Sound as a pound: former BHA chief showered with assortment of gifts

What do you give the man who has everything as a leaving present? Current Retraining of Racehorses and former BHA chairman Paul Roy found out last week at a London dinner to mark his stepping down from the board of New River, the investment trust whose £1.4 billion portfolio includes a swathe of shopping centres and retail parks.

Imagine his wife Sue’s surprise when he returned home clutching two crates crammed with 100 individual items – including household cleaning materials and cans of baked beans – bought from discount store Poundland, which despite its recent troubled history continues to trade on a number of New River sites.

Apparently, Mrs Roy’s astonishment was matched only by the Poundland cashier, who when approached by a member of New River staff with a wad of notes to pay for the purchases, exclaimed: “Ooooh, you’re rich, aren’t you!”