David Sullivan The Boss is Back

'David Sullivan is one of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs,

'but can he save the newspaper he created 25 years ago?'

I'm not a dictator and I will listen to other people,

but at this moment in time, we have a paper in intensive care.

'Last year, the Sport newspaper was close to folding,

'but at the eleventh hour, Sullivan stepped in to save the day.'

'I just had the belief that it could survive as a Sunday newspaper,

'it might just survive as a Sunday and a midweek paper.'

'It's not the first time he's tried to steer the Sport from disaster.'

'13 years ago, the paper's circulation was falling fast.'

'To boost sales, Sullivan took part in BBC series Back To The Floor.'

There it is, yeah. Smiles and teeth for me. There you go.

'It would mean working as a roving reporter on his own newspaper.'

"Gas man at blind-date sex orgy."

-Needs some quotes. Was he well hung?

-I should've asked that.

'Over the course of one week, the cameras followed Sullivan

'as he tried his hand at the tabloid trade.'

No, I'm doing something wrong. Oh, I've buggered it up.

'Now, as the Sport relaunches,

'the boss is back and more determined than ever

'to keep the business on track.'

You've got to be involved. When I wasn't, the paper went bust.

'Birch Hall in Essex,

'home to one of the country's most successful businessmen -

'David Sullivan.'

'It's very small.'

'It's about 25,000 square feet.'

Back then, it was the biggest house under construction in the country

and it was the biggest house in Essex built since the War.

'As well as being Sullivan's home and office,

'the mansion also houses his collection of sports memorabilia.'

This is my main dining room

and I collect Victorian racing trophies

and they're wonderful pieces of silver design really.

I like football, racing, boxing - the very masculine sports.

'25 years ago, Sullivan spotted an opportunity

'to combine his love of sport with his main business -

'publishing pornographic magazines.'

I honestly thought if The Sun was selling...

..erm... three or four million papers a day with one topless girl,

if you had ten topless girls, you'd sell two million as easy as that.

'The result was Britain's most downmarket tabloid newspaper -

'the Sunday Sport.'

'The formula's simple. As one of the paper's staff put it -

'"tits, bums, QPR and roll-your-own fags."'

It's an absolute disgrace, isn't it?

'Within a year, the Sunday Sport was selling half a million copies a week

'and the porn king had become a press baron.'

We were different. If anything's different, people give it a try,

but I think it's that combination of humour and girls.

We weren't trying to take readers from other newspapers,

we were trying to add readers to the whole Sunday market.

'By the late '90s, however,

'the Sport, like many papers, was suffering from falling circulation.'

'To boost sales, Sullivan decided

'to take part in the BBC documentary series Back To The Floor.'

'I gave up a week of my life to go and live in Manchester in a hotel

'in the hope that I'd sell newspapers.'

I thought, when the episode came out, we would sell extra papers

and I'd do anything to sell newspapers.

'Sullivan spent a week under the spotlight as a cub reporter

'for his own paper.'

David Sullivan here. Is that the copy taker?

Prior to being reduced to ten men...

-What's the first word?

-"Prior. P-R-I-O-R."

'13 years on from the Back To The Floor programme, the paper's formula

'of sport and sex hasn't changed.'

'Photographer Paul is working on a feature called Factory Visit.'

We send our girls round to the lads around the country

to cheer them up and stuff.

But with health-and-safety laws now,

it's dead hard to get people to agree to it nowadays.

In the old days, before health and safety, human rights and that crap,

we used to... people used to send loads of visits,

you know, requests for visits.

We sent one of our girls to a football team -

the lads all loved the girls coming down.

These guys will dine out on that

for the next 10, 15 years.

"Oh, wow! Guess what happened to us last Sunday!"

And they'll all be able to tell their grandkids.

Won't be able to show 'em the pictures!

'However, in the spring of 2011,

'the Sport's 25-year history almost came to an end.'

'After years of falling sales, the business went into administration.'

'The paper's decline coincided with Sullivan's decision

'to sell the Sport in 2007.'

I did it with great sadness, but I thought there was no future in it.

I thought the Internet

and technologies were replacing print

and it was a declining market.

All the print market is declining.

'Under new management, the Sport struggled.'

The Sunday Sport's always held a special place in David's heart.

When it was launched in '86, it was very much his brainchild, his baby -

once out of his control, it went downhill quickly.

'The Sport's owners decided to sell the paper

'and the staff sent Sullivan an SOS.'

I felt that the paper was still a very, very viable proposition,

that we'd got a well-known brand and we could make it work.

I spoke to David about various options and we decided that,

run as a tight ship, as a small business, the company would work

and could be profitable again.

'Sullivan decided to back a joint venture to buy the Sport.'

I took a complete gamble

and I was impressed that several members of the Sport's staff

wanted to relaunch the paper and they put their own money in it.

I owned 90 per cent, they owned 10.

'The former boss is now back at the Sport

'and is casting a keen eye on the paper's front page.'

I'm not a dictator

and I'll listen to other people, but we have a paper in intensive care

that is growing and shortly will come out of intensive care,

expand and take on more staff.

Mark Harris.

Mark, I've got the cover down.

When we discuss the paper, David's a great believer

in the strength of the front page -

it's our shop window

and he takes a very keen interest.

He doesn't tell us what to put on the front page,

but he'll tell us what NOT to put on the front page.

If he doesn't like a front page, he'll be very quick to tell us.

A couple of things - on mine, the bikini in the big shot

is very orange.

It was the same colour as the small shot, a vibrant red.

Looking at my version, you're right,

there's a definite orange tinge as opposed to the full red.

The cover's vitally important.

When I'm selling 30, 40 places in the UK,

whether they're newsagents or service stations,

that is our advertisement in those outlets.

-Yes, that's what we're looking for - solid red.

-"I'm not worried

"about the shade on her face, but the bikini is important."

It's almost the same colour as our masthead. Anyway, leave it to you.

-"Speak to you soon."

-All right, David, bye now.

David's happy with what we've got and he's just questioning

the colouring on the bikini on the front page.

So a bit of touch-up work in Photoshop and we'll be ready to go.

-Good morning.

-Morning, Mr Sullivan, how are you?

-Fine, thank you.

'For Sullivan, the front cover has been a long-standing obsession.'

'During his week on the shop floor,

'he was tasked with directing the cover photo shoot.'

We've got a problem.

Erm... Two weeks ago,

Sunday Sport went up five per cent.

Last week, it dropped two per cent.

So it's down to the pin-up.

Now, I've booked two girls into a studio this morning

and you occasionally bore me about the choice of covers,

so I want you to try and put sales up.

Well done. Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Two of each...

'The models were expensive for the Sport.'

-How much do you get paid for a shoot?

-150, 200, something like that.

'Normally, they would only get £50.'

As long as you wear the same colour.

'The people who are exploited

'are the people working on the tills at Sainsbury's for £3 an hour.'

'We live in a very liberal society now

'and they get a buzz out of it.'

TV: "'They don't do it for money, they do it for fame.'"

"That's it, there it is. There."

"'Every week, 50-100 women write to us

"'to pose in our newspaper.'"

-Good, that's the one.

-Plenty of smiles and teeth for me.

Yeah, that's fine. That's excellent.

We analyse sales figures based on covers all the time,

so... it's a matter of opinion what sells,

but I know what works for me

and my judgment is based on actual sales,

not personal opinions.

I think the danger is you start picking what YOU like

rather than what sells and the key is what sells.

'His next task meant travelling 100 miles to cover a football match.'

'Today, Sullivan is chairman of West Ham,

'but back then, he owned Birmingham City.'

'As reporter, he'd have to leave his mother in the directors' box.'

-Ooh, I am missing you.

-Well, I've got to go over there.

-How long for?

-The whole match.

Here we go. Excuse me. How's it going?

-Hello there.

-David.

-Am I sitting here? Very cramped.

'Sullivan headed for the press box to file his story.'

CROWD CHEERS

'He then called in the half-time report.'

"Is that the copy taker?"

David Sullivan here.

-Can you hear me?

-"Yep."

Prior to being reduced to ten men...

Did you hear that?

-What's the first word?

-"Prior. P-R-I-O-R."

-Yep. Is that your intro?

-"What's the intro?"

Hello?

'He lost the call and couldn't get the mobile working again.'

It's off.

'Luckily, a rival reporter took pity on him.'

'Sullivan had to cope

'with writing his report,

'watching the match...

'..and being heard on the phone.'

It's Dave Sullivan here from St Andrew's.

The last report with five minutes to go...

'Eventually, he managed to phone over a match report.'

Yeah, final score from Birmingham - 0-0.

"CROWD BOOS"

With all the noise, you're trying to speak

and they're struggling to hear you, but you're also watching the action

and putting your report through. It's very difficult.

'The football I found stressful

'because I got up at six o'clock, 18 hours without stopping -

'it's quite a hard day.'

'13 years on from Sullivan's week on the shop floor,

'the Sport has recruited a new trainee reporter.'

'Jess Haworth normally covers the paper's celebrity beat,

'but today she's going to be assigned a different kind of story.'

The readers expect that the papers are going to present to them

stories that will entertain them.

They know there's a tongue-in-cheek element to what we produce

and that's why people like us and why people will always smile.

'It's about a dwarf who claims he's banned from riding his motorbike.'

Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

Got a story we want you to look at.

Dwarf. He's called Dave Henderson.

He's playing the discrimination card

on the basis that he's not allowed to ride his motorbike

on the roads because it's too small,

it's not road-legal. He hangs around at a bike shop during the day.

Go down with Paul, he'll do the pics.

Find out what the story is. Anything else you can get -

he might've been in panto or whatever. See what you can find out

and come back and run through it with me.

'It's a story that follows

'in the Sport's long tradition of bizarre reporting.'

I think we always run one story on a Sunday that's a wacky, fun story.

It's one made-up story a week

and people see it like they see a newspaper cartoon -

they see it as a bit of fun and no more

and they're intrigued by how inventive we can be -

I don't think any of them really believes it,

but there's that one-per-cent doubt, maybe it is true.

Hi, Dave. Hi, I'm Jess.

-Hi, Jess.

-Nice to meet you.

'Jess and photographer Paul head off to a local garage

'to interview the dwarf biker.'

You've had a bit of trouble with riding your bike on the roads.

Yeah, have I had trouble?!

-The Ministry are now refusing to let me ride on the road.

-OK.

They're saying the bike's not road-legal,

-but I can't see why.

-Have you experienced any prejudice before?

Erm, not to this extent, no.

-Mm. How does it make you feel?

-It makes me feel angry.

Just cos I'm short, I'm not allowed to use a mode of transport

that is actually safe, easy and has got low emissions.

I could do with some stuff of you getting on the bike,

just roaring off into the sunset.

-MUSIC: "Wanted Dead Or Alive" by Bon Jovi

-Dave, this way.

# On a steel horse I ride...

'Dave may look the part,

'but he seems to be confused with the chopper's controls.'

# .. dead or alive...

'Finally, Dave gets his chopper started and Paul gets his photo.'

Oh, smashing.

'As Dave rides off into the sunset, it's time to go back to the office.'

'At first, I was worried about what he'd be like, but he's a character.'

# Dead or alive... #

I'm gonna go back to the office, talk to my editor Nick,

have a bit of a chat about what I've found out,

erm... and just let him know what the story is,

get some guidance on writing it up, then I'll write it into copy.

-What's the story?

-We've got Dave Henderson,

he is a dwarf biker...

-OK, I like it.

-But he's not being allowed

to ride his bike on the road.

-The Government have banned him.

-A Hells Angel biker without a bike.

Well, he has a bike, but he can't ride it on the road.

He says there's nothing wrong with his bike, it's because he's a dwarf.

Go to the Department of Transport and ask why he isn't allowed

to ride his bike, are you discriminating

-and we need to know what they have to say about it.

-OK.

We need a celebrity biker as well, somebody who'll have an opinion,

like... < Ewan McGregor.

Ewan McGregor or his mate who isn't the famous one.

< Charley Boorman. Charley Boorman. Or Eddie Kidd.

Or the guy from Top Gear. The little feller. Richard Hammond.

-See what he says.

-He's probably got something interesting to say.

'Jess follows up the story with a call to the DVLA.'

He's been told he can't register his vehicle with you

and he says this is because, obviously, he is a dwarf.

The bike in question is a quite small-scale bike.

It's a proper chopper, there's nothing wrong with the bike,

so I just wanted to know is there anything against dwarfs

riding on the road on motorbikes?

'Jess's story appears to have caught the authorities by surprise.'

OK, thank you very much, David. Thank you. Bye. Bye.

Basically, the press officer has said

that he's never heard of them refusing anyone

for being too small for riding any vehicle.

He said it's more likely to be a problem with the bike,

but he's never heard of any dwarf bikers being refused

and he said for me to drop him an e-mail with the details

and he'll take it up further.

'Armed with her quotes, Jess sends her story to the subs.'

'The Sport's editor Nick decides the headline.'

We've gone for "Leave my little chopper alone". It might imply

we're talking about his privates, but I don't think he'd mind.

-How did Jess get on?

-Great. Fantastic job.

-They got on quite well.

-Right.

It's the first time Jess has had her picture in the paper.

It'd be good to get her face on it.

She's got her pad in her hand. You can tell she's a reporter.

'With the photos added, the dwarf-biker story is transformed

'into classic Sunday Sport material.'

People think stories are made up or not and vice versa,

so we have some weird stories that are true

and sometimes people are not sure which is the made-up story -

it's find the made-up story -

and that's the fascinating one, it's quite unique.

It's very Sunday Sport.

'13 years ago, during his week as a trainee reporter,

'Sullivan hoped his photo shoot would boost sales.'

'But that morning, there was some bad news -

'tens of thousands of copies with his cover photo

'failed to reach the newsagents.'

We've lost a lot of sales through no fault of our own,

through the printer's mistake.

'Sullivan called in the printers.'

You're the ones who ought to be serious. What's your position?

-Managing Director.

-And I spoke to the Chairman.

-Yes, Jack Greystone.

We're at our wits' end.

We've lost tens of thousands of copies last night,

it's the fourth time in three weeks.

Last night's run...

On the run at high speed, the newspaper web broke.

It cost damage to the press

and cost us over an hour's production.

No, I wanted Monday.

-That was just some I could find.

-Yeah, but look at Monday's.

-We had it out there. The big girl.

-The one on the left's West Ferry.

Those instances are rare. We've had later than normal finishes,

later than perfect finishes...

What guts me more than anything is today I did the cover myself

and I hoped to show Tony I can do it better than him and lift the sales

and we've lost 70,000

-distributed copies.

-It is a complete disaster.

'Sullivan's stint on the shop floor involved one last scoop.'

The important thing for these

-is to have the one-per-cent believability factor.

-That's right.

-You all right there, David?

-I'm short of a pen.

Ah, here we go. Yeah.

Tell us about when Elvis came to you - Elvis's ghost presumably -

and impregnated you with his, er...

Well, it wasn't really like that. I'd been out with some friends,

I came home... Elvis?

-Yes?

-Do you want to sit in there and be quiet?

No? I'd been out with some friends, I came home,

I woke up to a really strange smell,

like a strong whisky kind of smell or something.

There was a bright light and some music playing -

"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was on.

Erm... The bed started to shake,

it felt really bright

and that was it, about ten seconds,

and then a voice said "Thank you very much."

And then when young Elvis was born,

obviously... erm... did you know instantly

it was Elvis's son?

I realised I was pregnant about two months after it happened

and my partner was working away, so I knew it wasn't from there

and when he was born, he's always been theatrical,

he's always singing and dancing

and he says certain things. I've never been a big Elvis fan...

-What does your partner think?

-Oh, bit of a touchy subject really.

We're not together now, no.

-Do you think it split you up?

-It's probably got a lot to do with it.

Elvis, can I ask you a question?

-Yeah.

-Do you know who Elvis Presley is?

-Yeah.

-You do? Who is he?

Daddy, uh... Daddy, the king Elvis.

Daddy, the king Elvis.

-Isn't that amazing?

-Yeah.

-So he's your daddy?

-Yeah, cos he fix airplanes.

-He fixes aeroplanes?

-No, we're going on an aeroplane.

Oh, bless...

Doesn't like the wig. I wouldn't put the wig on.

-It's too curly.

-Too curly?!

-SHE LAUGHS

We'll get one there. OK.

SHUTTER SNAPS

-Keep smiling.

-That's a lovely shot.

-Does he look like Elvis?

-Except he's got blond hair.

That might've come off his mum. Er...

-But he wears his sunglasses all the time.

-That's a good sign.

-He did say...

-Does he eat burgers?

He said... I wrote it down,

I thought it was very profound. He said "Do you know who Elvis is?"

and he said "Daddy's the king Elvis."

-That's proof.

-He said "Daddy's the king Elvis."

'Alison told the boss how he SHOULD'VE done the interview.'

I made a few notes and I think the most important thing you need to do

is structure your interview.

It was an interesting tale and we wanted to get loads of information

and ideas were coming to us all the time,

but you have to be more disciplined, you have to have a structure...

I found it hard because there was a young boy involved.

-But you've got no direct quotes...

-"Daddy's the king Elvis" -

I think that's the key quote,

when the little boy said "Daddy's the king Elvis."

'Alison decided it would be quicker if she operated the word processor.'

Is that the correct spelling?

Yep.

The Sport,...

..after extensive enquiries,...

..can officially confirm...

..that the legendary pop singer Elvis Presley...

..is the father...

..of a four-year-old boy...

..living in Oldham.

We should have a headshot of Elvis.

'After his week at the Sport,

'Sullivan discussed his findings with the directors.'

Overall, I was so impressed by the job they're doing.

It's a real tight unit, there's no wastage,

-but...

-What's the problem, then?

What I've underestimated is the sheer effort

in getting the paper out every day.

I think I gained from the experience

that, erm...

..people worked harder than I thought

and the job was tougher than I thought.

But it's all about selling newspapers and staying in business.

Erm, and that's the key to any business.

I think it was an eye-opener for him, seeing what it actually meant

to come up with ideas and get the necessary goods to fill a paper.

I'm an entrepreneur, a businessman,

an economist and a statistician

and they're my skills.

Er, but they're not good skills to be a reporter.

Emma. Dave Sullivan, pleased to meet you.

'Sullivan's reporting career may have been brief,

'but, 13 years on, he's back as the boss of the Sport.'

You've got to be involved because when I wasn't, it went bust -

the proof of the pudding's in the eating -

it's like any salesman - unless he's reporting to somebody,

it all becomes a bit too laid-back and we're in the sales business,

we have to sell a certain number of copies to keep people employed.

'After the tabloid's recent troubles,

'Sullivan's determined to get the paper back on track.'

Mark Harris.

What's the main story - Jacko Chimp Fingers Killer Doc?

We've had word that Jacko's chimp Bubbles

is going to say something or indicate something

that says that Michael Jackson's former doctor Conrad Murray

is more guilty than he confessed.

-What is the motor-box story you've been doing?

-Dave Henderson,

this dwarf who's been thrown out of the Hells Angels.

-A dwarf Hells Angel, that's good.

-He's got a fabulous miniature bike.

-With the Channel 4 series, they're popular, dwarfs, at the moment.

-Yes.

I might have six inches cut off and go on the show myself.

HE LAUGHS

-But I won't say which part of my body!

-There'll be plenty left!

-I'm glad things are back on the up and up.

-All right, David. Bye.

Cheers.

'After years of falling sales,

'the Sport's owners are confident it can hold its own

'on the nation's newsstands.'

I like to think after a year,

we'll be able to think "Job well done" -

it's the dream we had

of bringing back Sunday Sport as part of the fabric of the nation

as so far appears to be coming true.

'Thanks to Sullivan, the Sport has bounced back and is in rude health.'

It is very, very successful and very, very profitable

and I'm very pleased for the several members of staff who invested in it

because it can make a difference to their lives -

not to my life, but to their lives.

'Sullivan may have saved the Sport,

'but he has no plans to head back up north.'

No. HE LAUGHS

No, I'll not be going back.

Whether I'll go for a day sometime, I don't know.

I've not seen the new offices or any of the staff,

but I do speak to Mark and Nick all the time,

we do exchange e-mails - I'm a great e-mail person -

but, er, I will not be going back to the floor again!

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