The finance chief of Dundee University who quit less than a week into the job resigned after losing confidence in the new principal and chair of court, The Courier can reveal.
Chris Reilly informed the principal on Tuesday that he would be leaving his post after just six days in the role, despite being appointed on an interim basis for 18 months.
Dundee University insists Mr Reilly – a finance director with more than 30 years’ experience advising troubled organisations – left by “mutual agreement”.
But senior university figures say he became immediately concerned by the current leadership and raised those concerns directly with the principal following a short handover with his predecessor, Helen Simpson.
Reason behind finance chief’s sudden exit revealed
“In his first full day in the job, he concluded he had no confidence in [principal] Nigel Seaton or [chair of court] Ian Mair,” one source familiar with the discussions said.
He has two key concerns.
The first centres on the withdrawal of a written finance report authored by Ms Simpson for a June 23 meeting of the university’s governing court.
A member of the governing body told The Courier it was pulled from the agenda and replaced with a verbal update from Ms Simpson, given at her insistence.
“It speaks volumes that a discussion about the finances was removed from the agenda in the middle of a financial crisis,” an insider said.
‘Compulsory redundancies necessary to recover’
Sources claim the report, dated June 23, was not circulated to court members until the following weekend.
But Dundee University dispute this timeline and say it was not handed over for circulation until June 30. The Courier has seen no evidence to support this denial.
Further concerns were raised about the viability of any recovery without compulsory redundancies. The interim principal has also been directly warned of this by his finance team.
In an interview with The Courier the day Mr Reilly resigned, Professor Seaton repeatedly insisted there was “no plan B” for further redundancies beyond the 300 earmarked through voluntary severance.
“This is a pure voluntary severance exercise,” he said.
“There’s no plan to have redundancies afterwards. There’s no secret plan B where we might have redundancies.”
The university previously proposed a reduction in headcount of around 700 – which would have cut costs by around £45 million. The current proposal will instead save around half this figure and will require the university to borrow between £40 and £60 million, in addition to the £62 million already confirmed by government.
Professor Seaton’s intention to design the new recovery plan internally rather than commissioning an external accounting firm further eroded confidence. This plan has been promised to government by August 6 – a date sources say will inevitably be delayed.
Professor Seaton is said to have told court members he is confident he can oversee it being produced internally due to his background as an engineer.
‘Totally unrealistic’
But one source said this was “totally unrealistic” given how overstretched the finance department of the university currently is.
These concerns were raised directly with the Scottish Funding Council.
Asked if the body had confidence in the current leadership, a spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Funding Council cannot comment on individual staffing matters which are the responsibility of the university.”
She said the SFC continued to engage closely with the currently leadership.
The university says Professor Seaton acknowledges parts of the report will require external input.
But it is viewed as unlikely an internal plan will gain the confidence of government or lenders.
Professor Seaton is said to be insistent that the government is looking for a “vision” rather than numbers to back up any detail in the proposed route to recovery.
“It won’t be credible,” a source said. “Not with government or the bank, who we will need to get private finance from.”
Another added: “The principal thinks government will hand over £40 million based on a good story rather than numbers.”
Despite this apparent belief the government won’t scrutinise the numbers, the SNP administration is currently in talks with international audit firm Deloitte to probe the university’s recovery plan and advise ministers. The budget for this work is £900,000.
The concerns of senior staff and court members have been shared directly with the Scottish Funding Council’s director and the head of its Dundee University recovery unit.
The university was given detailed sight of the claims made in this article prior to publication. A spokesman for the institution provided the following statement in response.
He said: “The interim principal is working hard to rebuild trust among the university community and is determined to instil a culture of openness, transparency and challenge, including around financial assumptions and recommendations.
University ‘focused on changing culture’
“We are focussed on changing the culture of the institution, in line with the recommendations of the Gillies Report, to ensure a sustainable future for the university and its vital role in the city. This will not be easy process and we recognise that it will take time as we work through this crisis.
“A paper written by the interim director of finance, purported to be dated 23 June 2025 and entitled Financial Update Report, was received by the seconded university secretary on Monday 30 June.
“This was circulated to court members by the interim principal later that day.”
He said the university had found “no evidence” to support claims the report was submitted before June 30.
“There is no evidence of suppression of court papers.
“The 23 June 2025 court meeting was the first to take place following the publication of the Gillies Report. The draft agenda was adapted to allow for adequate discussion of Gillies and other critical matters.
“We acknowledge that several standing items were removed from the meeting agenda, including verbal updates from the interim principal, acting chair of court and interim director of finance. This was simply to ensure the smooth running of a busy court agenda.”
The university confirmed Ms Simpson attended the meeting and no concerns were raised about papers that were not on the agenda.
“Any allegation of suppression is misleading,” he added.
Addressing criticisms of the decision not to involve an external audit firm in drafting the recovery plan, the spokesman said a “full debate” took place with the principal expressing an opinion that the university should lead the work.
“The cost of outsourcing and adhering to procurement policy were central elements of this discussion.
“The interim principal at no point ruled out involving an external firm in the plan. On the contrary, he said that external involvement would be required for some elements.
“Court, considering all the circumstances and the procurement issues highlighted in the paper, ultimately decided to refer the matter back to the University Executive Group for further consideration.”
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