The principal of the first college to be put in administration has agreed to never work in the education sector again, FE Week can reveal.
In what is thought to be a sector first, Paul Hannan will be fined £250,000 if he breaches the ban which has been imposed following a three-year investigation by BDO, the liquidators for both Hadlow and West Kent and Ashford Colleges.
However, a secret deal has been struck between his deputy Mark Lumsdon-Taylor and BDO that keeps the details of his “undertaking” under wraps. Lumsdon-Taylor, who appears to have already agreed to pay £5,000, will be forced to pay further compensation if he breaches this confidential agreement, and on that basis the liquidators have withdrawn all claims against him in full.
Both leaders of the Hadlow Group resigned in 2019 after applying for emergency funding from the government to keep the colleges open, as Hadlow had run up £40 million in debts, while WKAC owed over £100 million.
