The shaming of Lawrence Jones
| Published date | 26 November 2023 |
| Publication title | Manchester Evening News: Web Edition Articles (England) |
What started in a spare bedroom became a true business powerhouse. Based on Princess Parkway, just outside Manchester city centre in Hulme, its complex had a massive slide from the top floor to reception, with bean bags at the bottom.
The perks were seemingly non-stop. Staff were treated to a free gym and a games room, as well as private medical insurance. 'Beer Fridays' were a regular, celebrated event. There were summer festivals -UKFest -held at the couple's home.
Workers were taken on team bonding trips. Some members of staff were given access to the couple's ski chalet.
To an outsider, it appeared the perfect place for a young professional to further their career. But multi-millionaire tech tycoon Lawrence Jones -one of the north west's best-known entrepreneurs -walked those floors with a dark secret.
The bombastic business 'guru' was a rapist who hadn't yet faced justice, having carried out two attacks in the late 1990s. He 'stupefied' two young women with drugs before attacking them at his Salford flat.
Before he became a millionaire, sleazy Jones spoke to beautiful young women while he was a pianist playing in top-end hotels across Manchester like the Octagon Lounge at The Midland. The former chorister liked to give them the impression he was going places.
The married father, who has four daughters, went on to build an empire.
He was a mentor to young people, rubbed shoulders with business -and actual -royalty, and was pictured with Boris Johnson when he was Prime Minister at the Conservative Party Conference.
But the awful truth was later finally revealed and his world crumbled.
The two women he attacked all those years ago would bravely break their silence. This week, they have finally seen Jones convicted.
Following that trial, it was revealed he had already been in prison for 10 months having been found guilty, in January, of a sex assault on another woman in the early 2010s. During a business trip, after inviting her back to his hotel room, he touched the woman's inner thigh, saying: "Let me see your knickers."
There had been whispers at UKFast for years, a court heard. Jones' behaviour was put under the spotlight as he watched on from the dock.
A picture soon became clear to jurors - a picture of an uncomfortable, at times toxic, work environment, led by a slimy boss pushing the limits of acceptable behaviour.
The downfall of the man once dubbed 'Britain's nicest boss', awarded an MBE in 2015, was drastic.
Here, Manchester Evening News reporters Amy Walker and John Scheerhout delve into the grimy culture at a company commanded by a predator -and how he lost his kingdom as his web of lies unravelled.
'A sexual atmosphere'
As Jones' first case made its way through Manchester Crown Court, a 'bad...
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