Fee hikes, big bonuses, then bosses exit: the curious case of City & Guilds privatisation

A Charity Commission inquiry probes executive pay and fee hikes at the privatised vocational training giant, raising questions about its charitable mission. | Contesto: cronaca

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• Fee hikes, big bonuses, then bosses exit: the curious case of City & Guilds privatisation

Contesto

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into City & Guilds, the 145-year-old vocational training charity, following its controversial privatisation and the subsequent approval of million-pound executive pay deals. The move, confirmed this week, places the organisation under intense regulatory scrutiny, focusing on whether its trustees complied with charity law during the sale of its commercial arm to a private equity firm and in setting senior management remuneration. The inquiry's launch follows months of growing concern from training providers and industry figures. Many, like electrician and training centre owner Charlie Butler, first sensed a profound shift in the charity's operations last autumn. Butler, who runs a company in Essex offering City & Guilds-affiliated courses, anticipated a routine discussion about a modest annual fee increase. Instead, he was informed of a near-doubling of his centre's fees, a move he described as a severe shock that threatened the viability of his business and, by extension, access to training in his region. This aggressive new commercial posture stems directly from the complex restructuring completed in 2021. The charity's trustees oversaw the sale of its for-profit trading subsidiary, City & Guilds Group, to the private equity firm Cinven for an undisclosed sum, believed to be in the hundreds of millions. The transaction was designed to create an endowment to fund the charity's philanthropic work in perpetuity. However, the operational heart of the brand—the development and awarding of vocational qualifications—was transferred to the new, privately-owned entity, now called The City & Guilds Group, operating under a long-term licence. In the wake of the sale, significant executive bonuses were paid from the proceeds. The charity's annual accounts for 2021 revealed that its then-chief executive received a total remuneration package exceeding £1.7 million, which included a £1.2 million bonus linked to the successful completion of the Cinven deal. The chair of the board of trustees at the time also received a six-figure bonus. These payouts, ratified by the trustees, have become a central focus of the Charity...

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Categoria: cronaca