First the mortgage, then the smart new kitchen: Martin Hughes, the activist hedge fund manager backing Sir Richard Branson’s bid for Northern Rock, has taken a 6.68 per cent stake in Smallbone, the luxury kitchen company.
Mr Hughes is thought to have spent about £1.4 million on 1.5 million shares in the AIM-listed company through Toscafield, his personal investment fund. Toscafund, the hedge fund manager led by Mr Hughes, is one of a team lined up to back Sir Richard’s £1 billion bid for a 50 per cent share in Northern Rock, the bank.
A spokesman for Mr Hughes said that he had bought the shares as “a long-term investment . . . the investment is not connected with Toscafund’s activities”. Mr Hughes is understood