Politicians demand boycott of architects for hiring Sir Fred

Published on Sunday 17 January 2010 21:51

POLITICIANS have called on public bodies to boycott the architectural practice RMJM, after it appointed the former head of Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Fred Goodwin, as a senior adviser.

The company, whose projects include the Scottish Parliament building and the Falkirk Wheel, has been accused by politicians of displaying "bad judgment" by hiring the banker as an international consultant.

Now, public bodies considering hiring RMJM are being urged to think "long and hard" before awarding it lucrative contracts and spending taxpayers' money on the company.

Dubbed the "world's worst banker" after RBS was saved by the government and posted a loss in 2008 of 24.1 billion – the largest annual loss in UK corporate history – Sir Fred became a figure of hate and his home was vandalised after it was revealed he had walked away with a pension pot worth 16 million or 703,000 a year. He later agreed to reduce it to 343,500 a year.

He was driven into exile in the South of France but later returned to Edinburgh to rebuild his career. The role with RMJM will involve travelling the world to drum up new business.

However, Michael Connarty, Labour MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, said: "I would have thought the last person the public sector would want to do business with is Fred Goodwin, given that he was basically responsible for one of the biggest banking crashes in history. People in the public sector should think long and hard before awarding contracts to this company if its judgment is so bad that it is taking on one of the most despised people in the country."

It was a sentiment shared by Sandra White, the nationalist MSP for Glasgow, who said: "People should think twice and look to their consciences before awarding public contracts to companies that don't appear to look to theirs when employing people who don't appear to have certain ethics."

Yesterday, it emerged that Sir Fred is a friend of Sir Fraser Morrison, the chief executive of North American operations. They are former colleagues who worked together at the Clydesdale Bank.

Sir Fraser's son, Peter, is overall chief executive of the Edinburgh-based architectural practice which has 14 offices around the world. Among its current projects is design of the Commonwealth Games athletes' village in Glasgow.

While RMJM will not receive public money for that development, it will benefit from the eventual sale of property in the athletes' village, built on land donated by Glasgow City Council.

Sir Fred, 51, who took up the post before Christmas, is expected to spend more than one week a month travelling the world on the firm's behalf. Although his salary has not been disclosed, it is understood to include a performance- related bonus. He will not receive pension contributions.

When news broke of the controversial appointment, some RMJM staff were stunned as the company had last year slashed jobs and imposed a 10 per cent pay cut for all staff. One employee reportedly said: "We thought it was a joke. We have all taken a pay cut this year and a lot of our colleagues lost their jobs."

This weekend, a source at the firm said of Sir Fred: "He has a unique skill set. He's got fantastic international experience and that really appealed to us.

"Public sector work is awarded on a tender. If we do win contracts then it is because we have shown that we are the best value for money."