City & Guilds job cuts and offshoring plans cancelled after union intervention

The vocational training body City & Guilds has guaranteed that plans for mass compulsory redundancies and the offshoring of hundreds of UK jobs to Greece will no longer go ahead.

The proposal to remove about 400 UK roles was first reported by the Guardian in December as part of a £22m cost-cutting drive after the acquisition of the charity’s training and awards business by the Greek-owned PeopleCert in October.

A presentation prepared for PeopleCert investors had said staff leaving UK roles would be replaced with people abroad. After the sale, about 75 compulsory redundancies were announced.

The strategy caused widespread dismay within the training sector and left City & Guilds facing potential legal and industrial action.

However, on Thursday the union Unite said negotiations with PeopleCert had “secured a financial settlement for the limited number of workers currently being made redundant”, meaning compulsory job losses had been largely avoided.

Peter Storey, a regional officer at the union, said: “Unite will remain vigilant of the future direction of travel at City & Guilds under PeopleCert.”

A spokesperson for City & Guilds added: “Measures have been agreed to minimise the impact on affected colleagues, maximise opportunities for redeployment and voluntary redundancy, and provide enhanced financial and practical support for those whose roles are ultimately confirmed as redundant.

“Together, these measures represent a generous and supportive package that delivers a positive outcome for affected colleagues while supporting the organisation’s long-term needs.”

Meanwhile, PeopleCert appears to be attempting to improve its public image after its acquisition of City & Guilds last year.

Founded in 1878 by the City of London and a group of 16 livery companies, the City & Guilds brand was owned under the umbrella of a charity, City & Guilds London Institute (CGLI), which said it would use its £166m windfall from the sale to continue its charitable works such as providing funding to people in need of vocational training.

However, in December the Guardian exposed that City & Guilds’ two most-senior directors had been paid million-pound bonuses by the new private company – and received sizeable salary hikes – after the sale.

The revelations prompted the Charity Commission to open a statutory inquiry, while PeopleCert launched its own internal investigation.

This week the PeopleCert investigation concluded that the former chief executive of City & Guilds Kirstie Donnelly and the body’s finance chief, Abid Ismail, had awarded themselves bonuses of almost £3m “without authorisation from, or knowledge of” their superiors.

Lawyers for Donnelly and Ismail denied the claims and responded: “Our clients will present all their evidence to the courts in due course. That evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that all bonus payments referenced in PeopleCert’s statement were approved, documented and implemented as part of the wider transaction process.”

Separately, CGLI said on Thursday it would launch its own inquiry into the sale. The third investigation would be “led by a king’s counsel … with the aim to establish a clear, evidence-based understanding of the factors behind the strategic decision to sell the charity’s awarding, assessment and training businesses”, the charity said.