Tram boss Richard Jeffrey quits amid tales of tension with new chairman

Published on Thursday 19 May 2011 08:15

TRAMS boss Richard Jeffrey is to quit the troubled project, the Evening News can reveal.

TENSIONS: Richard Jeffrey. Picture: Dan Phillips

Staff were due to be told the news today and Mr Jeffrey will leave next month, near the time of a key meeting at which councillors are expected to decide whether to abandon the project or keep going if additional funding can be secured.

Other senior managers may follow him, but at the moment the four remaining directors of the council's tram firm TIE will report to chairman Vic Emery.

There have been rumours of disagreement between Mr Jeffrey and Mr Emery, who last week compared Edinburgh to Tripoli at a press briefing to which Mr Jeffrey was not invited. Mr Emery explained his absence, saying: "He is back in the office doing some work for me."

Sources told the News the two men had differing approaches to the mediation process with the contractors, led by Bilfinger Berger, and that Mr Emery had effectively sidelined Mr Jeffrey from that process. Mr Jeffrey had adopted an increasingly aggressive stance towards the contractors since last year.

It is understood Mr Jeffrey will not be replaced immediately. A senior project source said: "There's no intention to bring in a new chief executive at the moment. The intention is to bring together a closer and tighter governance structure.

"The bottom line is we have reached a point where there are too many bosses."

A TIE insider told the News: "A lot of people are going to be stunned by this. He had taken a lot of flak but he had a lot of support internally. He's a very capable man and an able manager and he'll go on to succeed elsewhere."

Another TIE source said: "We are in a new and very welcome stage of moving forward, but Richard won't be part of that."

Mr Emery said: "Richard has been an energetic force during his time on the project and has seen the organisation through a particularly challenging period.

"I would personally like to pay tribute to his determination, integrity and resilience."

Speaking on behalf of Edinburgh City Council, chief executive Sue Bruce said: "Richard has been an integral part of the process of bringing the tram negotiations to where we are now. I would like to wish Richard all the very best."

Mr Jeffrey took over the job in May 2009, having previously been managing director of Edinburgh Airport for six years. The post had been vacant since Willie Gallagher resigned for family reasons six months earlier.

Tram critics said at the time he had taken on "a Mission Impossible challenge".

When he was appointed, Mr Jeffrey described it as "a fantastic job" and in his first interview he insisted the project would be a success, despite admitting it was over budget and behind schedule.

He said at the time: "The situation is absolutely recoverable and I do not believe it is as bad as it's made out to be."

But after an apparent success in getting Princes Street re-opened in time for Christmas shopping, work on the project ground to a halt as TIE's dispute with contractors Bilfinger Berger became more bitter.

The trams project has spent 440 million of its 545m budget, but just 28 per cent of infrastructure work is complete.The route from the airport to the waterfront is now expected to get only as far as St Andrew Square. The council will decide the project's future on June 30.