Rees: ‘I’m not being harmed by what I do in my spare time’

Marvin Rees has responded for the first time to criticisms of him taking on a paid advisory role at a TV production company.

Rees has joined the board of Clifton-based Plimsoll Productions, where he will be advising on matters such as commercial opportunities, talent, diversity and sustainability.

Valued at £86m, natural history specialists Plimsoll have made programmes including Britain’s Parking  Hell, Train Your Baby Like a Dog and Our First Gay Summer: Mykonos.

It is unknown how much Rees – who earns an annual salary of £80,000 for being mayor – is being paid for his new role.

Responding to a question from Bristol24/7 at his fortnightly press conference, Rees admitted that he checked with Bristol City Council’s monitoring officer before taking the job.

He said: “It’s what I do in my spare time and that’s okay. I do a lot of hours as mayor. I’m in the office most days by about 7.30, often don’t leave ’til 7. If I’m up at 10.30 at night reading something in my own time, then that’s what I do with that spare time.

“It’s also worth noting that it’s a Bristol business, it wins investment for Bristol, provides jobs for Bristol people and they’re trying to break into areas in which I can support. So that’s good for the city. It’s a Bristol company.”

Answering a question by Bristol24/7 over whether there could be a potential conflict of interest if Plimsoll had any interaction with the city council, Rees said that they primarily work overseas.

He added: “I support lots of Bristol businesses all the time… I sit on many boards… I sit in lots of places with the aim of supporting the city and winning investment for Bristol.

“But it’s my spare time. If I chose to brick-lay in my spare time, that would be fine too. If I chose to skateboard in my spare time, that would be fine too. As long as I’m getting my job done, it’s my spare time. I actually say that the more pressing conversation is with my family, to be honest.”

At a meeting in Hotwells in January about the Western Harbour proposals, organised by the Labour Party, Rees left early, telling the audience at Holy Trinity church that he had to pick up his sons from football training.

So have the criticisms of Rees taking the job with Plimsoll from the likes of metro mayor candidate, Stephen Williams, been unfair?

“Everyone’s trying to chuck sand in the gears every day in Bristol, that’s what goes on” said Rees.

At his press conference on Wednesday, Rees said: “We try and chuck enough mud around to try and create an air, an area of issues (sic). My predecessor held positions; it wasn’t necessarily questioned. We checked it (Rees’ job with Plimsoll) with the monitoring officer. It’s all above board…

“What we are focused on in Bristol… is families falling into destitution, hunger, heat, businesses going out of work, Brexit preparations, domestic violence, mental health.

“That’s what I do most days from 7.30 with night-time reading as well, with the whole network of the city. And we’re delivering on that.

“We’ve just got £20m to bring forward the enabling works up at Hengrove, we’ve just got Bonnington Walk (in Lockleaze) come through, 50 per cent affordable homes, we’re going forward on the Temple Meads development.

“We’re getting the stuff done, we’ve won Channel 4 for Bristol, for the creative sector, we’ve set up the History Commission, we’ve managed the kind of challenge of how we navigate our way from the complexities of the Colston statue being hauled down, we’ve got schools coming through on development, we’ve pedestrianised the city centre, we’ve got a climate strategy, an ecological strategy.

“We’ve got a whole docket of things that we are continuing to get done. I’m not being harmed by what I do in my spare time.”

Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon and Bristol mayor Marvin Rees at the launch of the broadcaster’s new hub in the city. Photo: Channel 4

Responding to Rees’ new job with Plimsoll, Bristol’s first elected mayor, George Ferguson, tweeted: “The truth is that as soon as elected as Bristol Mayor I resigned from my principal place of work and handed over responsibility elsewhere, making major financial sacrifices in order to concentrate 100% on the new role which I regarded as a huge privilege and responsibility.”

Main photo: Plimsoll Productions

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