Much Ado over How Do merger with Manchester Confidential as Jaspan walks away
One exclusive North West marketing news website How-Do has missed, despite being in the know from early this year, is that its marriage to Manchester Confidential, the lifestyle website, has ended in divorce after just a few months.
It is reported by the BusinessDesk.com that How-Do founder Nick Jaspan left the combined venture in February and has now set up a new company, Northern Publishing which continues to control the How-Do website.
The development came as details of a winding up order against Manchester Confidential’s holding company Cpub Limited by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, emerged. Despite the fact that this has now apparently been deferred news of the winding up order would not have been a happy start for the newlyweds.
The separation, amicable or otherwise does not seem straightforward. Mark Garner, the founder of Manchester Confidential is reported as confirming that he still owns How-Do Limited and its email database, despite the fact that Jaspan is controlling the website itself, “I have no interest in being a publisher of a B2B site,” he said.
However, Garner has retained control of the property website Place North West.
Updated: How Do issued the following statement on its website.
"In the light of recent media coverage regarding the issue of a winding-up petition against Cpub Ltd and the previous winding up of two of Mark Garner's Manchester Confidential operating companies, we wish to inform our readers and commercial partners, that How-Do, the online publication and its related offline events, are quite separate from the Cpub issues.
"It is business as usual with How-Do's founder Nick Jaspan still in situ, James Graham the editor supported by the deputy editor Stephen Chapman, Dunstan Carter overseeing commercial enquiries and jobs and Rachel Bullock in charge of our events and awards operations.
"The team is further supported by additional teams at our web developers, SEO advisers, several JV partners and freelances.
"We do not intend to comment further at this time."