Exclusive:Cost-cutting Edinburgh University hires 'turnaround specialist' who delivers 'substantial change'

Cost-cutting Edinburgh University has parachuted in a new finance chief who describes himself as a “turnaround specialist” with expertise in restructuring and delivering “substantial change”.

Staff representatives have raised concerns about the recruitment of Nirmal Borkhataria, who was named interim director of finance last month, shortly before it was announced that a new voluntary redundancy scheme would open at the university, with compulsory job losses not being ruled out.

At an all-staff meeting on Tuesday, The Scotsman understands “absolutely furious” university employees made their feelings about the institution’s financial strategy known to management, including both Mr Borkhataria and principal Sir Peter Mathieson.

One attendee of the event, watched by hundreds in person and about 3,000 people online, said there was “deep anger” about a recent pay rise for Sir Peter, as well as the escalating number of university staff earning salaries of more than £100,000.

Edinburgh University | NW

Concerns were also raised about the level of transparency relating to the university’s finances, with bosses asked if any cuts were being considered beyond the jobs of staff.

Mr Borkhataria has previously held similar “interim” finance director posts at York University, Queen’s University in Belfast, Wolverhampton University, and Goldsmiths, the University of London.

At all four, his Linkedin page describes work to resolve major financial challenges, including launching a voluntary severance scheme at York University earlier this year, thought to have led to the loss of hundreds of jobs.

On the page, he describes himself as a "recognised turnaround leader in challenging stakeholder environments, devising and implementing plans to restore financial stability and add value".

It says that he is “proficient in quickly assessing financial health, creating improvement plans, implementing operational efficiencies”, and "an expert in working through periods of substantial change and development, restructuring processes and procedures to increase productivity and financial performance”.

The appointment, which was announced by the university, came before Sir Peter wrote to staff saying: “In the context of the recent sector challenges around international student recruitment, increasing staff costs since the pandemic, and the unsustainable levels of funding for Scottish and other UK students, our outgoings are consistently higher than our income.

“In response to this situation and recent developments with regards to National Insurance, we have concluded that we need to take a series of actions, which will include selective voluntary and, if unavoidable, compulsory redundancies.”

The arrival of Mr Borkhataria comes amid ongoing criticism of the university’s handling of its finances.

Sophia Woodman, president of the UCU union branch at Edinburgh, highlighted a recent report into the botched roll-out of the “People and Money” IT system for HR, payroll and finance, which meant thousands of invoices issued to the university were left outstanding.

"This just seems to me incomprehensible, given the findings of the external report released earlier this year on People and Money, which found that the failure to listen to staff contributed to the major disruptions caused, and identified the lack of trust in senior management as a major problem for the institution,” she said.

"It is astonishing that management is again going ahead with something where they are refusing to listen to concerns, refusing to really have a proper dialogue, or think about different options staff might propose in these circumstances.

“And on top of that to recruit a person like that. Why have they not appointed a permanent finance director with a commitment to the institution?"

A spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh said: “The director of finance is a critically important role for the university.

“We have started the process to appoint a permanent position, and in the interim period require someone with appropriate experience to lead our finance department.”

In terms of the all-staff meeting, the spokesperson said: “We have recently made colleagues aware of plans to address the financial challenges the university is facing.

“This initial all-staff meeting gave people the opportunity to ask questions and understand more about the actions the university will be taking and why.

“During the meeting, it was made clear that a range of ways to manage our staff and non-staff expenditure are being considered.”

Several other universities in Scotland have launched voluntary severance schemes in recent months, including Aberdeen University, Robert Gordon University, and Dundee University.

Professor Iain Gillespie quit as principal in Dundee last week, as the university faces a deficit of up to £30million.