Cherie Blair sets up base on Oxford Street
Former PM's wife opens charity headquarters above McDonald's in 'noisy area' of town
London: This is the less than salubrious base for Cherie Blair's new headquarters — above a burger restaurant at the ‘wrong end' of London's Oxford Street.
While tourists queue for their Big Macs and fries in the Marble Arch McDonald's, in an office nine metres above them the wife of the former Prime Minister is trying to save the developing world.
Blair has chosen the spot for her Foundation For Women, a charity to ‘empower' females — mainly in the Third World — which she set up when her husband left No 10 two years ago.
The location might appear an incongruous spot for Blair's foundation, given the criticism that the fast-food chain has faced for allegedly contributing to the destruction of rainforests through its farming interests.
Sources say Blair — who is famously cautious with money — secured the office next to the Odeon cinema at a ‘bargain basement' rate. "It's the cheap end of Oxford Street, which is why she got it at a knock-down rate," the source said. "It's a noisy area, and too close to the tourist tat of Edgware Road."
In contrast, Tony Blair's work as a £90,000 (Dh540,000)-a-time public speaker, adviser and public affairs consultant is run from a set of Mayfair offices, which cost more than £500,000 a year.
The move marks the latest stage in the expansion of the Blairs' post-Downing Street empire, which has suffered from planning rows and staff changes.
Earlier this year, the couple were investigated for a possible breach of planning rules on their £4.9 million London home.
The pair, who bought the mansion in Connaught Square, near Hyde Park, for £3.65 million in 2004, purchased the mews house behind the property for £1.275 million three years later.
Blair's foundation has been hit by the loss of its chief executive, Connie Jackson.
