Exodus of senior staff at troubled Edinburgh college

A TROUBLE-HIT college has seen three of its most senior staff leave within weeks of a new principal arriving on the job.

Telford College's deputy principal Greg Irving, director of finance Ben McLeish and chair of the management board Ed Weeple are all to leave, The Scotsman has learned.

Principal Miles Dibsdall took over in April, having previously been principal of New College in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

Staff believe he has decided to press ahead with changes to senior staffing roles in a bid to transform the fortunes of the Edinburgh college.

Greg Irving, the deputy principal, had been acting as principal after the previous boss Ray Harris left.

Lecturers were critical after Mr Harris jetted off on a family holiday in 2007 while they were manning picket lines in protest at redundancies.

Staff had already passed a vote of no confidence in his leadership. He went on to take up a senior post at the umbrella group Scotland's Colleges.

About 40 staff were made redundant after a major cost-cutting exercise.

One senior source revealed: "I never thought Greg Irving would leave by choice, but so has the chair of the board of management, and the finance director – all within four weeks of the new principal arriving.

"Our understanding is that he was edged out by the board."

A former employee, made redundant last year, said the departures were a sign of positive changes at the college.

He added: "I didn't want to leave. I had to leave.

"There is a feeling these are the people associated with the job cuts and other unpopular financial decisions."

Another college source said: "The new principal is certainly very popular because of these departures, whether he is behind them or not."

While Mr Irving and Mr Harris were in charge in 2008-09 the college ran a shortfall of 1m but is now on course to break even.

The deficit was blamed on a lack of overseas students and a fall in commercial training contracts caused by the recession.

However, angry lecturers blamed mistakes by senior management.

The college said that finance chief Mr McLeish had left to "pursue other interests", that Mr Irving had retired and that Mr Weeple had reached the end of his tenure.

A spokesman for the college said: "When a new principal comes in, it is a great opportunity for making some changes and it is unusual if you wouldn't make any changes."

A spokesman for the lecturers' union, the EIS, said: "EIS members at Telford have been kept informed regarding the changes at senior management level within the college."