A university at the centre of an official investigation by the education watchdog authorised an extraordinary series of payouts linked to its vice-chancellor.
Having awarded Dominic Shellard a £64,000 pay rise last year, De Montfort University also paid almost £2,700 towards his membership at an exclusive private members’ club at The Ivy in central London.
The university’s accounts reveal it previously paid more than £57,000 in a year for his travel expenses and £67,792 to a consultancy firm run by his sister, Sonya.
De Montfort also spent £22,000 on a bizarre charity video that showed Professor Shellard, 52, dancing around the campus while lip-synching to Bonnie Tyler’s 1984 hit Holding Out For A Hero. The 2012 video reportedly raised only £5,000.
Dominic Shellard (right) with the Queen (centre) and Kate Middleton (left) during a visit to De Montfort University
Led by Professor Dominic Shellard (grey suit) a number of people gathered in Castle Gardens at De Montfort University to do a dance to Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out for a Hero
Amid claims of ‘extravagance, lies, bullying and lack of accountability’, the academic resigned as vice-chancellor earlier this week as the universities watchdog launched an investigation into governance and ‘regulatory matters’ at De Montfort in Leicester.
The former Labour councillor received the biggest salary rise of any vice-chancellor in the country last year, taking his annual pay to £350,000.
It has since emerged he held shares in a holding company run by the chairman of the university remuneration committee that authorised the 22 per cent pay rise. Professor Shellard had declared his shareholding in Metamorph, a holding company for legal services.
A still image from the flash mob which was led by Dominic Shellard (above)
Its executive chairman, Anthony Stockdale, was chairman of the university’s remuneration committee.
Mr Stockdale resigned from the university’s governing board this week along with Tony Payne, a member of the finance and human resources committee, and Oliver Mishcon, a barrister and member of the ethics committee.
Sir Ian
