Bedder 6
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 30 October 2006 London, United Kingdom |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| £1,800,000 (2008) |
Bedder 6 is a British company, responsible for exploiting the Top Gear brand. It was founded by presenter Jeremy Clarkson and executive producer Andy Wilman in October 2006.[1] In November 2007, BBC Worldwide purchased 5001 shares giving them a stake of just over 50% of the business. They are believed to have paid £100 for the shares, but also transferred merchandising and some foreign sales rights[2] to the company.[3] The remaining 5000 shares were split 60/40 between Clarkson and Wilman respectively.[4]
The company posted a £1.8m post-tax profit in September 2008, giving its shareholders £700,000 in dividends.[5] By 2013 Bedder 6 had revenues of £149m, and paid out dividends of £16.2m divided between Clarkson (30%, £4.86m), Wilman (20%) and BBC Worldwide (50% £7.5m).[6]
Bedder 6 own 50% of Sub-Zero Events Limited, a joint-venture set up by BBC Worldwide and Brand Events in February 2008 to run the Top Gear Live shows. Both Bedder 6 and Sub-Zero Events' registered addresses are at BBC White City, the building where Top Gear's offices are located.[7]
The name of the company is believed to refer to a room that Clarkson or Wilman (or both) lived in at Repton School, where dormitories are called "bedders".[8]
In 2012 BBC Worldwide took on the whole of the rights to the Top Gear brand to ensure that the BBC gets all the money from the show and its spinoffs.[9] In July 2015 Clarkson and Wilman, along with Richard Hammond and James May, founded production company W. Chump & Sons. The company is currently working on The Grand Tour, a motoring show for Amazon Video, which debuted on 18 November 2016 in the UK, US, Germany and Japan; the show will then be rolled out worldwide in December 2016.
References
- ^ Companies House. Company Details BEDDER 6 LIMITED Company No. 05982502
- ^ Martin, Nicole (5 September 2008). "Jeremy Clarkson earned more than £300k from Top Gear company". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited.
- ^ Schreiber, Dominic (8 August 2008). "BBC invests in Clarkson's company". variety.com. Reed Business Information.
- ^ Conlan, Tara (8 August 2008). "Jeremy Clarkson and BBC Worldwide become business partners". guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited.
- ^ Conlan, Tara (5 September 2008). "Jeremy Clarkson made more than £300k from Top Gear company". guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited.
- ^ "Top Gear: Jeremy Clarkson netted more than £14m from show last year". Guardian. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
- ^ Companies House. Company Details SUB-ZERO EVENTS LIMITED Company No. 06499361
- ^ "Media Monkey's Diary". guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited. 18 August 2008.
- ^ Conlan, Tara; Sabbagh, Dan (27 September 2012). "Top Gear deal nets Jeremy Clarkson multi-million pound payout". Guardian. Retrieved 23 December 2015.