Fashion firm run by millionaire footballer Jesse Lingard among celeb companies claiming cash for furloughed staff
A FASHION firm run by millionaire footballer Jesse Lingard is among star-backed enterprises to claim taxpayers’ cash for furloughed staff.
JLingz sells £100 backpacks and £30 tops but has losses of around £250,000.
It employs three people — including the England midfielder, who earns more than £100,000 a week from his football.
Lingard, 28, has an estimated £20million fortune and a £2.8million home in Cheshire.
A source said: “It is focused online and doesn’t really have shop staff so it’s hard to see why they’ve claimed.
“The furlough scheme was meant to help small businesses, not those launched by multi-millionaires.”
A source close to the player, who is on loan at West Ham from Manchester United, said he was unaware of the furlough claim and was looking into it.
Little Mix singer Jade Thirlwall’s firm Chain Reaction Ltd runs the Arbeia bar in South Shields, Tyneside.
It was among more than 740,000 firms receiving furlough cash in December.
The swish venue opened as Red Door in October 2019 but changed its name to Arbeia last February.
A spokesman for Geordie Jade, 28, who is worth more than £10million, was approached for comment.
Meanwhile, family business Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd is also listed as receiving furlough support despite the ex-US President Donald boasting of a £2billion fortune.
The luxury resort at Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, took Government cash as it battled the impact of lockdown.
Trump, 74, resigned as a company director in January 2017 — at the time he entered the White House.
But his sons Donald Jnr, 43, and Eric, 37, are listed as directors.
Membership at the Trump International is around £2,000 a year.
The resort’s Macleod House restaurant offers expensive meals including lobster for £42, corn-fed chicken for £22 and Trump sticky toffee pudding for £8.
Its 2019 accounts said it employed 84 staff, paying a total of £2.1million.
By then, the resort was £1.1million in the red.
Labour MP John Spellar said: “This astonishing move will raise eyebrows.
“Donald Trump was never keen to offer a hand-up to working people but seems very keen to take a handout.”
Aberdeenshire councillor Martin Ford, who battled to stop the development, said: “While Mr Trump makes exaggerated claims about his wealth, it is clear he really is very wealthy.
“The burden on the UK taxpayer will be increased because Mr Trump’s business is getting helped. Almost no one is going to think that’s right.”
Representatives for the Trumps declined to comment.
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Also listed as claiming furlough cash is Nobu London — co-owned by screen legend Robert De Niro, chef Nobu Matsuhisa and film producer Meir Teper.
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Goodfellas star De Niro has an estimated £360million fortune.
His spokesman declined to comment.
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