Updated 14:30
Publicist Max Clifford has been sentenced to eight years in prison, and must serve at least four, after being convicted on eight charges of sexually assaulting young girls.
Max Clifford Associates, founded more than 20 years ago, was the go-to place for people wanting to promote their kiss and tell stories - as well as for high profile clients including Simon Cowell, who has now unsurprisingly severed all links. It is being reported that the firm could now close.
Although in recent years business had been falling away, latest financial records show Clifford's firm was still pulling in more than £1m a year - during his eight week trial he told reporters his firm lost earnings of that amount.
Worker in tears
Workers were in tears as Clifford (71) was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault against four women aged between 15 and 19 during an eight year period from 1977.
The dozen all female staff he employs were regulars in the public gallery at Southwark Crown Court but they are now all expected to lose their jobs when he is sentenced by judge Anthony Leonard.
One staff member said, ''We've been told not to say anything. There will be a statement, at some point after sentencing, that's all I can say.''
Employee Ann Duffy, who broke down in tears as the verdicts were returned, said, ''This is the biggest injustice and I'm very distraught.''
Other staff members were also clearly upset and said it had been ''the most awful week.''
The company's website was unaccessible within hours of the guilty verdicts being returned and at the same time a ''horrified'' Cowell cut links with Clifford as did Dragons' Den Star Theo Paphitis.
Clifford remortgaged mansion
It has also emerged that earlier this year Clifford took out an unexplained £3.5m mortgage on his Surrey mansion with the suggestion being he wanted to put his money out of reach of victims looking for compensation.
During the trial he accused the woman who came forward detailing how he preyed on them of ''jumping on a bandwagon'' and trying to ''cash in'' on him by selling their stories.
There is also speculation that his wife of four years Jo is looking to divorce him, she was noticeably absent during his trial and was not even called as a character witness.
Legal experts had said earlier that Clifford faced at least two years in jail as the judge will have to use guidelines in force when the offences were committed in the 1970s and 1980s.
He has already warned Clifford that being bailed was no indication of how he would be sentenced.
