Strickland heir on Allied board insists Hillman promotion was fait accompli Allied shareholder Robert Hornyold-Strickland hits back at claims by Strickland Foundation council member Mario De Marco 8 April 2021, 9:12am by Matthew Vella The heir to Mabel Strickland, Robert Hornyold-Strickland, has accused the Nationalist MP Mario de Marco of occupying a seat on the Council of the Strickland Foundation – the largest shareholder in the Alied Group – against the wishes of Strickland’s vision for the Times newspaper. In a right of reply to this newspaper, Hornyold-Strickland – who holds 13% of the Allied Group, publisher of The Times – accused the Foundation of being responsible for the appointment of Hillman as managing director, who is now implicated in a commercial graft investigation over Allied’s acquisition of a printing press for its subsidiary Progress Press, from Keith Schembri.