Two Top City & Guilds Executives Placed on Leave Amid Bonus Scandal
A scandal over millions of pounds in bonuses has prompted two senior executives at City & Guilds, a leading vocational training body, to be placed on leave. The charity watchdog, the Charity Commission, is launching an investigation into the sale of City & Guilds' training and qualifications business to PeopleCert, following reports that executives received massive bonuses.
The chief executive, Kirstie Donnelly, and the chief financial officer, Abid Ismail, will be absent from work for a short period while an internal investigation led by PeopleCert's legal representatives is conducted. The inquiry aims to uncover events before and after the sale of City & Guilds' business to PeopleCert.
Last year, City & Guilds sold its training and qualifications business to PeopleCert, with reports suggesting that executives received significant bonuses as part of the deal. The payments were reportedly worth £1.7m for Donnelly and £1.2m for Ismail. However, PeopleCert claims that the charity's board approved the payment structure before it was privatised.
The sale gave City & Guilds a cash windfall of between £180m and £200m, which will be used to secure its long-term future and pursue charitable objectives. The Charity Commission is investigating events at the charity itself, not PeopleCert.
The trustees of City & Guilds say they are cooperating fully with the Charity Commission's inquiry and remain confident that all actions taken by the board have been proper and transparent. However, the scandal raises concerns about executive pay and accountability within the charity sector.
A scandal over millions of pounds in bonuses has prompted two senior executives at City & Guilds, a leading vocational training body, to be placed on leave. The charity watchdog, the Charity Commission, is launching an investigation into the sale of City & Guilds' training and qualifications business to PeopleCert, following reports that executives received massive bonuses.
The chief executive, Kirstie Donnelly, and the chief financial officer, Abid Ismail, will be absent from work for a short period while an internal investigation led by PeopleCert's legal representatives is conducted. The inquiry aims to uncover events before and after the sale of City & Guilds' business to PeopleCert.
Last year, City & Guilds sold its training and qualifications business to PeopleCert, with reports suggesting that executives received significant bonuses as part of the deal. The payments were reportedly worth £1.7m for Donnelly and £1.2m for Ismail. However, PeopleCert claims that the charity's board approved the payment structure before it was privatised.
The sale gave City & Guilds a cash windfall of between £180m and £200m, which will be used to secure its long-term future and pursue charitable objectives. The Charity Commission is investigating events at the charity itself, not PeopleCert.
The trustees of City & Guilds say they are cooperating fully with the Charity Commission's inquiry and remain confident that all actions taken by the board have been proper and transparent. However, the scandal raises concerns about executive pay and accountability within the charity sector.
£1.7m for one person?? thats mental! its like they didnt even care about the charities reputation or the fact that they were selling off a valuable asset without being transparent about it 
i mean, £180-200m cash windfall is alot of money, so its gotta be worth checking if everything was above board 
theyre makin it seem like they're doin good for the charity but i think its all about lining their own pockets. i'm glad the charity commission is on to this tho, gotta keep an eye on these big execs and make sure they're not gettin away with somethin shady 
think about it, if £1.7m is just part of the deal, what's to stop people from taking more and more? 
should we be surprised that when power and profit are mixed, things can get outta hand? 
maybe this is a chance for us to ask ourselves... do we really need all those big bonuses in the first place?
. Like, how can you sell off a valuable part of your organization without even checking if it's okay with the charity watchdog? 
I mean, £180m to £200m is a huge chunk of change, and it's just not right that executives are getting bonuses on top of that. It sounds like there was definitely some behind-the-scenes shenanigans going down before that sale went through.
! Those massive bonuses are just outrageous 
, but instead of using it for good, you give it all to the execs as a thank you 
It's like, what's going on with all these charity watchdogs? Can't trust anyone anymore 
. Anyway, I guess this is a reminder that there's still some truth to those "executives get rich off charity" rumors 
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Did they think they were above the law or something? And what really gets me is that PeopleCert says the board approved it beforehand, but that doesn't make it okay. It's like, accountability is key in any organization, especially when it comes to charity work.
... and don't even get me started on the £180m-£200m cash windfall - where did that money come from again? 
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I'm so disappointed in this news. £1.7m and £1.2m bonuses for two execs? It's just not right. 
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