Finance chief at cash crisis Scots university quits after just eight days in the job

Daily Mail​

02-07-2025

A cash-strapped university has been plunged into further turmoil after its chief finance officer left just days into his new job.
Staff at the University of Dundee were yesterday told Chris Reilly had left the position by 'mutual agreement' just eight days after starting the job.
Mr Reilly, who the university said had a 'wealth of experience', only joined the beleaguered university last Monday.
It is the latest issue to rock the university, which is slashing its headcount amid a £35 million deficit, and comes just days after its former principal Prof Iain Gillespie said he was 'incompetent' and not corrupt.
Mr Reilly was appointed to be its interim chief financial officer for 18 months, but yesterday staff were told of his departure.
In a campus-wide email Prof Nigel Seaton, the current interim principal and vice chancellor, revealed Mr Reilly has 'left the university by mutual agreement'.
Prof Seaton, who took over last month after Prof Shane O'Neill quit as principal following a scathing independent report into the cash crisis, said: 'We are moving quickly to appoint a new interim director of finance who will take us through the next steps of the university recovery plan for submission to the Scottish Funding Council.'
Mr Reilly joined the university on June 23, and the institution said he brought a 'wealth of experience' across a range of sectors including 'higher education, charities, healthcare and multisite retailing and catering, with substantial governance experience'.
Informing staff of his appointment, as part of its financial recovery plan, the university said: 'Chris is initially being appointed for an eighteen-month period.
'This is a vital appointment as we move through the next stages of our financial recovery.'
University bosses are now on the hunt for their fourth finance chief in less than a year.
Mr Reilly replaced Helen Simpson, who served in the role for seven months before her own exit.
Before then, in early October 2024, Peter Fotheringham left.
The university, which has secured a £62m taxpayer bailout, is seeking to cut as many as 300 jobs to cope with its multi-million pound deficit.
In an excruciating Holyrood appearance last week former principal Prof Gillespie, who was paid £305,000 a year before he quit in December, denied being a liar, a coward, and a 'good time Charlie' but did admit he was 'incompetent'.
When the university was hit with a scathing report by Prof Pamela Gillies last month, Prof O'Neill and two senior members of the university's governing body immediately quit.
It found that poor financial management and bad decisions were behind a 'self-inflected' black hole, with red flags clearly visible on Prof Gillespie's watch.
She found there were numerous points in which a 'reasonable person' could have realised the financial situation was worse than presented.