Foul! Classic car-loving boss uses university cash... to sponsor a football stadium

A VICE-CHANCELLOR has provoked outrage by using university funds for a football club corporate sponsorship deal.

George Holmes – who earns £290,000 at the University of Bolton, and owns a yacht and a Bentley – has been given ‘naming rights’ at the home of the Bolton Wanderers. The highly unusual and secretive deal has seen it rebranded the ‘University of Bolton stadium’.

The university, which is funded by taxpayer-funded grants and student fees of £9,250, has refused to say how much money is involved but that it was ‘not as much as you would expect’. However, it is believed the deal could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The University and College Union said community links were important but ‘vice-chancellor vanity projects must never take precedence over frontline funding for staff and students’. The university said the ‘strategic alliance’ will allow staff ‘limited access’ to corporate hospitality to entertain VIPs, and would benefit sports students. Earlier this year, it was revealed Professor Holmes got a pay rise of £66,000, bringing his salary to £290,215 – despite Bolton being ranked only 126th in the Complete University Guide. Yet last year he claimed vicechancellors were ‘not paid enough’.

The university said the money for the deal came from ‘university funds from commercial sources’ and was ‘the best value for money advertising.’