Tony Blair closes business ventures to focus on non-profit work

Tony Blair has announced he is to shut down his business network to concentrate fully on his non-profit work. The former prime minister said he will close Tony Blair Associates as well as Firerush and Windrush structures as part of plans to bring both organisations under one roof.

In a statement on his The Office of Tony Blair website, the former Labour leader said he will gift the "substantial financial reserves" to the Not For Profit work, on which he will continue to spend around 80% of his time on.

In an email to staff, Blair added: "Over the past nine years we have built a group of organisations employing around 200 people and working in more than 20 different countries around the world.

"It is time to take this to a new level. As I indicated last December at our annual all staff meeting, I want to expand our activities and bring everything under one roof.

"I also want now to concentrate the vast bulk of my time on the Not For Profit work which we do. De facto, this has been the case in the past two years but we need to reflect this change in the way we are structured."

Windrush channels money for Blair's government advisory business, whereas Firerush administers the funding for Blair and his team's work advising companies and sovereign wealth funds. Both firms operate under the umbrella of Tony Blair Associates.

The decision arrives two months after Blair was heavily criticised in the long-awaited Chilcot report into the 2003 Iraq War,

Following a press conference after the publication of the 2.6 million word report, Blair said he does not regret his decision to invade Iraq in 2003. He said: "There is no inconsistency in expressing my sorrow for those that have lost their lives, my regret and my apology for the mistakes but still saying I believe the decision was right."