Gary Verity

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tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Did not take long for the press to start digging for dirt and still no-one is taking leadership of this whole thing. Sound's like it's not just Verity that fall short the board don't look to have been up to the job which is even worse. They are all accountable via corporate governance I understand that when I served on a board. If they don't understand then they need to face up to it and take what ever the fail out is some of who are elected councillors so they are even more accountable.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
Did not take long for the press to start digging for dirt and still no-one is taking leadership of this whole thing. Sound's like it's not just Verity that fall short the board don't look to have been up to the job which is even worse. They are all accountable via corporate governance I understand that when I served on a board. If they don't understand then they need to face up to it and take what ever the fail out is some of who are elected councillors so they are even more accountable.
Well, it depends.....

If Verity was behaving in a deliberately misleading way regarding his expenses then the Board are in the clear. If he was just claiming things openly that he shouldn't and the Board were signing off then clearly the Board is also culpable.

I suspect we will never find out because it seems Welcome to Yorkshire's Board doesn't want it to be a public issue. However, seems other issues are coming out in terms of his management style. Pity it's ended like this because, putting to one side his personal issues, what was achieved was astounding
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Either way the board have questions that need to be dealt with. If he did it openly or not the systems that they had in place that the board will have signed off clearly did not work and they clearly have allowed a culture to grow that allowed some to act in a manner that made some feel uncountable.
In the end you can delegate all you want but as a board you are responsible for action of others.

Yes we may never know as they can't or won't open up about it and let the fact's be known again showing poor judgment. I agree it's a shame it has come to this as what has been achieved is without question impressive. Which is more the reason that someone has to act quickly and take ownership of this issues and let the real hard working staff get on with building on what has been achieved.
 

Randomnerd

Bimbleur
Location
North Yorkshire
Sir Gary's illness must've come on suddenly: up to the sixteenth of this month he was tweeting daily from his lambing shed at all hours of day and night.

And here's an opinion on Welcome to Yorkshire from a former employee, from Glassdoor

Pros

Huge goodwill towards the organisation. Great offices and the people you work with are some of the brightest, most dedicated stars. Decent pay.

Cons

It's a brutally high pressured work environment. You'll slog your heart out to only have to pick yourself up and get on with the next thing. Life under Sir Gary is the hardest work you'll have to do as he always wants to get the most bang for his buck. That's a good quality when it's external, but can wear you out internally.

Advice to Management

Thank the staff more often. Accept more readily when things need more resource or they can't be done. Doggedly insisting they can may work eventually but you burn your staff out far faster.


Welcome to Yorkshire Board dont publish their minutes, despite being funded by public cash. Chair, a finance guru, will be next to go. Many hands in the till, allegedly
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Equally he was tweeting about his sisters death which from the tone of some of them looked to have hit him hard. The grounds of the Illness to one side he clearly need's some space. Then if it's found to be a case of he has legal questions to answer and possible chargers then so be it. But any chargers now given ill health won't go much distance.

What is clear is a new culture and mind set is needed and someone need's to take charge of this mess pretty quickly and over see a good old clear out.
It don't take too much to get backers running for the hills and a lot of the great work done to quickly unravel. What is with out question is Yorkshire deserves better and it's a lot bigger than one or two high profile people and people who are quite happy to live the high life but are not keen on admitting they got found sleeping on the job.
 

Randomnerd

Bimbleur
Location
North Yorkshire
Sunday Times accuse GV of paying for his sisters funeral through expenses.
He's been on a final warning for bullying staff, it is alleged
Power corrupts: his elite cronies are unlikely to drag out their own incompetence into light of public scrutiny.
This is Britain: fwxk up, cover up, carry on regardless
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Sunday Times accuse GV of paying for his sisters funeral through expenses.

It's the sums of money that surprise me.

Some high end managers think nothing of putting thousands on expenses every month.

Our MPs are another case in point.

The funeral bill could have been five figures, although we don't know how much of it - if any - Verity claimed.

Regrettably, he appears to be using the death of his sister to garner some sympathy for what looks increasingly like plain and simple thieving.
 

tom73

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
And still no one has taken charge of this whole thing. Clearly the board are not and never have been up to the job. The buck in the end how ever they my want to paint it stop with them. They clearly allowed a culture to set in that allowed stuff to happen and did not ask too many question. Too many public bodies mismanage stuff with no come back.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Seems Verity repaid £40,000 in 'expenses' when he quit.

His legal team say he is guilty of no more than an error of judgment.

Some error, some judgment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engla...88-leeds/0&link_location=live-reporting-story
 
The financial part is one thing, but re the "Bullying", I wonder how much of this is simply "Oi, get off that bloody Facebook and do some work".

From what I have see of younger work collegues in recent years many seem to think they are entitled to spend a good portion of the day on personal internet business.
 

NorthernDave

Never used Über Member

Beebo

Firm and Fruity
Location
Hexleybeef
Given that this is a public body, presumably someone senior signed those expenses off before they were paid out?
Not necessarily. He could have used a company credit card to run up costs that would be paid but never signed off.
I’ve worked for a number of companies where people have used company credit cards to buy things that were never approved.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
Not necessarily. He could have used a company credit card to run up costs that would be paid but never signed off.
I’ve worked for a number of companies where people have used company credit cards to buy things that were never approved.
I've been the person ultimately approving all expenses at a number of organisations and I have never allowed company credit card transactions to be treated any different than any other expense. Full receipts and signed off by the claimant before I reviewed them

However, some public bodies have a bit of a rep for being weak on financial controls and probity (mine were all private companies). Here is my guess..BoD staffed by the great and good, none of whom had real experience of controlling a business. Verity, charasmatic CEO, rides coach and horses through the controls and nobody on the Board said anything as he was delivering the goods. Weak Board, autocratic CEO...recipe for disaster
 
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