W. Chump and Sons

W. Chump & Sons Limited[3] is an independent television production company founded in July 2015 in the United Kingdom.[4] The company has its headquarters on Power Road, Chiswick, London, and is owned by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman. The directors of the company are the former presenters and executive producer of the MPH Show, Top Gear Live exhibition tours, and the Top Gear series produced for BBC Television from October 2002 until March 2015. Between 2016 and 2019, the company was engaged in producing The Grand Tour, a motoring television series that debuted on Amazon Video on 18 November 2016.[5]

W. Chump & Sons
TypeLimited company
IndustryTelevision production
GenreFactual entertainment, Automotive journalism
FoundedJuly 2015 (2015-07)
Founders
HeadquartersStudio 4, Power Road Studios, Power Road, Chiswick[1],
London
Products
Revenue£35.8 million (2016[2])
£6.7 million (2016[2])
Total assets£5 million (2016[2])
Owners
Number of employees
28 (2016[2])
ParentChump Holdings Limited
Divisions
  • W. Chump & Sons
  • W. Chump & Sons Productions
  • W. Chump & Sons (Mugs & T-shirts)
WebsiteThe Grand Tour
Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson

Prior to the founding of W. Chump & Sons, two of the directors (Clarkson and Wilman) owned the production company Bedder 6 until 2012, when it was sold to BBC Worldwide.[6]

Company

Chump Holdings Limited is the holding company for the group of companies.[7] The relationship between Clarkson, Hammond, May and Wilman and control of the company is covered by a 46-page Articles of Incorporation. Each have an equal 25% stake in umbrella firm Chump Holdings. The document, written by law firm Olswang, covers topics including decision-making, conflicts of interests, removal of directors and errors and disputes. Chump Holdings contains their TV-making arm W. Chump and Sons Productions and another business W. Chump and Sons Ltd which could deal with other areas such as merchandise and any live tours.[8][9]

In August 2015, property agency Martin Burke & Associates was instructed to locate a suitable office with "generous car parking space" in Hammersmith, Chiswick or Notting Hill.[10] The company initially used temporary office space in Notting Hill.[11] In October 2015 W. Chump & Sons took a three-year lease on an office at Power Road Studios in Chiswick—at the time leased from Sapcote Group—paying £38 per square foot.[12][13][14] The building containing the offices was subsequently bought by Helical Bar from Sapcote.[15][16][17] The company moved in at the beginning of January 2016.[18]

A second company, W. Chump & Sons Productions Limited, was founded in September 2015 with Andy Wilman as its sole director.[19] A third company Chump Productions with Clarkson, Hammond, May and Wilman as directors and owned by Chump Holdings was founded on 2 October 2015.[20] The companies use the registered office of legal firm Olswang at 90 High Holborn, London.

In mid-December 2015 Clarkson stated to Jeremy Paxman of the Financial Times that "serious business folk who want to be in on what looks set to be a roaring success will have to carry business cards bearing their name and rank in the hierarchy of, for example, W Chump and Sons (mugs and T-shirts)".[21] One week later, a fourth company W. Chump & Sons (Mugs & T-Shirts) Limited was incorporated on 23 December 2015 and made up of the four main directors, plus Ernesto Schmitt formerly of Beamly and EMI Music.[22]

David Cameron, who was British Prime Minister at the time, visited the offices of W. Chump & Sons on 16 June 2016.[23]

Cars

In late 2015 the organisation acquired four Reliant Robin three-wheelers as company cars.[11] The fleet of four cars for Clarkson, Hammond, May and Wilman cost under £15,000.[11] In December 2017, the company cars were exhibited during the press launch for The Grand Tour series 2 in London.[24]

Amazon
Main article: The Grand Tour

In July 2015, the directors of W. Chump & Sons signed contracts with the online broadcaster Amazon Video to join a list of original programmes distributed by Amazon and produce 36 episodes of The Grand Tour.[25] The deal was arranged by Chris Bird and Conrad Riggs of Amazon.[26] The first series was scheduled to be distributed to Amazon Prime's online customers from late 2016. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos described the deal as being "very, very, very expensive".[27]

In August 2016, Executive Producer Andy Wilman attended the Edinburgh International Television Festival and held a 35-minute talk called "The Grand Tour Masterclass"[28] in which he went into detail about working with Amazon Video on their new show, the fallout with the BBC[29] and what audiences can expect to see in The Grand Tour. Despite a number of attempts to get information on The Grand Tour's release date and schedule, Wilman said he didn't know, stating "That's their [Amazon Video's] call".

References
  1. "Completed projects". Office and Industrial acquisition. Martin Burke and Associates. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2016. W Chump and Sons Ltd, Office acquisition, Studio 4 Power Road Chiswick
  2. Buckwell, Andy (14 July 2017). "Jeremy Clarkson and Co given £35.8Million to make Amazon's Grand Tour". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 20 September 2017. £35.8 million to make Amazon's Grand Tour last year … company Chump Holdings Limited … trio were paid £3.75 million between them ‘for presenting services’ … one of the company's directors … was paid £1.3 million. … profit of £6.7 million … paid £1.7 million in corporation tax … £27.4 million went on the shows - or more than £2 million per episode. … 28 staff were paid £3.3 million
  3. "W. Chump & Sons Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 23 December 2015. Company number 09668527
  4. Campelli, Matthew (13 August 2015). "Clarkson and Wilman's indie recruiting for Amazon series". W. Chump & Sons, the indie set up by Andy Wilman and Jeremy Clarkson, has begun crewing up for its ambitious new motoring series for Amazon Prime Video.
  5. The Grand Tour (15 September 2016), The Grand Tour: Launch Date, retrieved 9 October 2016
  6. Conlan, Tara; Sabbagh, Dan (27 September 2012). "Top Gear deal nets Jeremy Clarkson multi-million pound payout". Guardian. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  7. "Chump Holdings Limited: Company Number 09806001". Companies House. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015. Incorporated on: 2 October 2015
  8. Olswang. "Company Number 9806001 Chump Holdings Limited" (Certificate of Incorporation of a Private Limited Company). Companies House. pp. 1–46.
  9. Singh, Anita (1 August 2015). "Top Gear stars drive $380m TV deal". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 December 2015. Clarkson, Hammond and May - along with former Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman - will make the show and take a cut of profits from merchandising and tours through their new production company, W Chump & Sons (the title incorporates the initials of their surnames).
  10. "Top Gear trio seeking office space". Property Week. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Agency Martin Burke & Associates has been tasked with finding 5,000 sq ft of space for W Chump & Sons, the company set up by the trio along with former Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman. The firm is seeking office space in Hammersmith and Chiswick, but could also consider moving to Notting Hill. One of the main requirements of the new base is generous car parking space. Alt URL
  11. Clarkson, Jeremy (11 January 2016). "Remember the rolling Robins? Well, I've a confession to make". The Sunday Times Driving. less than £15,000 … for four cars. … I went all the way from our old offices in Notting Hill to our new offices, appropriately enough, in Power Road, in Chiswick, west London
  12. Branson, Adam (29 October 2015). "Clarkson and co. rev into Chiswick". Property Week. three year lease on 5,495 sq ft of office space at Power Road Studios, Chiswick.
  13. "Clarkson and ex Top Gear boys rev into Chiswick". Hanover Green. The space, leased from Sapcote Group, will be the home for their new production company W Chump & Sons, which will be making the group's new motoring show on Amazon Prime. … rent equates to £38/sq ft. … Hanover Green acted for Sapcote.
  14. Wilman, Andy (25 August 2016). "The Grand Tour Masterclass" (Interview). Interviewed by Elaine Bedell. Edinburgh: Edinburgh International Television Festival. Retrieved 7 November 2016 – via Youtube. (28:08) …the office we've got, is a bit big … 38 quid a spare foot.
  15. "City Spy: Jeremy Clarkson gets his perfect landlord in Helical Bar's Mike Slade". Evening Standard. London. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015. The Chiswick building in which Clarkson and chums' production company W Chump & Sons leases offices has been bought by Helical Bar
  16. Bury, Rhiannon (7 December 2015). "Helical buys new home of Top Gear team". Property Week. Helical Bar has bought the home of the former Top Gear presenters' new programme in Chiswick … The 1930s building is a former warehouse that was once used by Singer Sewing Machine Company
  17. Millar, James (8 December 2015). "Sapcote Developments sells Power Road Studios for £34m". Sapcote website blog.
  18. Wong, Jessica (4 January 2016). "Top Gear's original trio preps Amazon show as new team revamps original". CBC News. Canada. Retrieved 4 January 2016. posted images [on] Monday of moving into new offices
  19. "W. Chump & Sons Productions Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 23 December 2015. Company number 09715710
  20. "Chump Productions Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 5 January 2016. Company number 09806303
  21. Paxman, Jeremy (18 December 2015). "Lunch with the FT: Jeremy Clarkson". Financial Times. Retrieved 23 December 2015. serious business folk who want to be in on what looks set to be a roaring success will have to carry business cards bearing their name and rank in the hierarchy of, for example, "W Chump and Sons (mugs and T-shirts)".
  22. "W. Chump & Sons (Mugs & T-Shirts) Limited". 23 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015. Company number 09928481
  23. Hughes, Laura (16 June 2016). "Ex-Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson joins David Cameron's campaign to keep Britain in the EU". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 June 2016. David Cameron visits W. Chump & Sons … former Top Gear hosts met the Prime Minister in the west London office of their TV production company.
  24. O'Malley, James (8 December 2017). "Here's What The Grand Tour London Launch Event Was Like". Gizmodo. Retrieved 11 December 2017. around the hall there were props … The Grand Tour Museum … Here's some three wheeler featuring the name of the show's production company.
  25. "Clarkson delighted with terms of new Amazon show". 2 August 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015. The new motoring show, which will be available to Amazon Prime customers next year, will feature at least 36 episodes over three years.
  26. Barraclough, Leo (31 July 2015). "Why Jeremy Clarkson's 'Top Gear' Team Went to Amazon". Retrieved 23 December 2015. will be 12 episodes in each of the three seasons, and each episode will run for around an hour. … deal was brokered by Amazon U.K. film and TV strategy director Chris Bird and Conrad Riggs, the U.S. company's head of TV production. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  27. Quinn, James (16 August 2015). "Amazon's Jeff Bezos: With Jeremy Clarkson, we're entering a new golden age of television". Daily Telegraph. Seattle. Retrieved 23 December 2015. Bezos [said] he's "very excited" about the concept. … the show will be "very, very, very expensive," for Amazon. "They're worth a lot and they know it."
  28. "The Grand Tour Masterclass". Youtube. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  29. "Top Gear producer Andy Wilman quits show". 24 April 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2016. The BBC would not say whether or not Wilman's decision to leave was related to Clarkson's departure.


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