Update 30th November;
According to a report in the Daily Mail the suspensions at Swansea Uni do indeed relate to Mark James' Wellness Village. According to the newspaper, the Vice Chancellor and Prof Marc Clement, and two others were suspended over 'conflicts of interest' and the purchase of shares by an 'unnamed individual'. According to the Mail, that individual was making 'key decisions' about the project, so may well refer to the appointments to the City Deal board as detailed in my main post below, published on Monday. If this is the case then presumably they should be suspended from the Board immediately.
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'There were concerns of an ‘inappropriate conflict of interest’ whereby the employee could profit from public money invested in the project, despite making key decisions about it, a source said....Swansea University’s registrar later obtained emails in which the shares were discussed and began an investigation' (Daily Mail)
In other words it is alleged that certain individuals were prepared to personally profit from public money over this development, (which has already cost millions of pounds of public cash), and the City Deal.
After researching and writing about this tangled web of familiar names and private business interests for over two years, I am quite certain that it all stinks and the whole project should be shelved.
Whatever the case for the Uni professors, the spotlight should now be on the City Deal 'Accountable Officer', Mark James. And before he claims it is 'nothing to do with him, guv', it should be remembered that he has something of a track record in failing to declare his own private interests and he has been involved with all the key players, including our friends from Sterling/Kent Neurosciences right from the start. I've said all along that with his extended rap sheet, he was the wrong man for the job.
I look forward to his imminent suspension.
For more on all this, the Wellness Village and the City Deal, please search this blog.
Update 29th November;
WalesOnline reports today that Swansea Uni's Prof Marc Clement 'vehemently denies wrongdoing' and has instructed lawyers to act on his behalf. The Uni, meanwhile, is sticking to its guns.
News reports today reveal that the Vice-chancellor of Swansea University, Prof Richard Davies, and Prof Marc Clement have been suspended (on full pay), along with two other employees, whilst an internal investigation continues. The university are not releasing further details at the moment only to say that the investigation does not concern "the academic performance of the university or its financial wellbeing".
Whatever the case, for those following the Swansea Bay City Deal saga this is interesting news. Both of them are key players, particularly Prof Clement, and both are part of the 'ARCH' project and both were very recently appointed to influential positions within the exclusive SBCD club; Richard Davies as a non-voting member of the Joint Committee and Marc Clement to the Economic Strategy Board as the representative of higher education.
We can only speculate as to the reason for the investigation and there has been no suggestion, of course, that there is a connection with the City Deal, but regardless of the reason, the suspension of two of its high profile figures is undoubtedly significant.
Llanelli born Prof Clement has had something of a controversial past, and several interesting news stories pop up on google, including his leading role in the disastrous Technium project.
He is also a director of several companies, the latest venture being Vardiola Ltd set up in February this year with fellow Swansea academic Georgios Dimitropoulos.
Listed on Companies House as providing 'hotels and similar accommodation', Prof Clement resigned from Vardiola Ltd on Saturday.
Funnily enough, Mark James is also in the property business. And also a director of Trinity St David Uni.
With regards to the City Deal, and more particularly, Mark James' private healthcare Wellness Shed down at the Great Swamp, Marc Clement was a director of Kent Neurosciences, resigning shortly before the Exec Board, behind closed doors, signed a 12 month 'exclusivity deal' with the company to develop the Village in May 2016.
As I have set out in detail here, the deal was not renewed and company dissolved last year, only to re-emerge as Sterling Health, with the Dickmann clan still at the helm, and landed the council's contract to develop the Village. Kent Neurosciences had been behind the development of a private hospital in Maidstone, Kent which required a £20m bail-out.
Questions about the council's appointment of Sterling Health were brought up at the last full council meeting,Mark James' Emlyn Dole's responses were evasive and hostile. Carmarthenshire Council is the lead authority for the City Deal, and Mark James is the chief officer...
According to a report in the Daily Mail the suspensions at Swansea Uni do indeed relate to Mark James' Wellness Village. According to the newspaper, the Vice Chancellor and Prof Marc Clement, and two others were suspended over 'conflicts of interest' and the purchase of shares by an 'unnamed individual'. According to the Mail, that individual was making 'key decisions' about the project, so may well refer to the appointments to the City Deal board as detailed in my main post below, published on Monday. If this is the case then presumably they should be suspended from the Board immediately.
'There were concerns of an ‘inappropriate conflict of interest’ whereby the employee could profit from public money invested in the project, despite making key decisions about it, a source said....Swansea University’s registrar later obtained emails in which the shares were discussed and began an investigation' (Daily Mail)
In other words it is alleged that certain individuals were prepared to personally profit from public money over this development, (which has already cost millions of pounds of public cash), and the City Deal.
After researching and writing about this tangled web of familiar names and private business interests for over two years, I am quite certain that it all stinks and the whole project should be shelved.
Whatever the case for the Uni professors, the spotlight should now be on the City Deal 'Accountable Officer', Mark James. And before he claims it is 'nothing to do with him, guv', it should be remembered that he has something of a track record in failing to declare his own private interests and he has been involved with all the key players, including our friends from Sterling/Kent Neurosciences right from the start. I've said all along that with his extended rap sheet, he was the wrong man for the job.
I look forward to his imminent suspension.
For more on all this, the Wellness Village and the City Deal, please search this blog.
Update 29th November;
WalesOnline reports today that Swansea Uni's Prof Marc Clement 'vehemently denies wrongdoing' and has instructed lawyers to act on his behalf. The Uni, meanwhile, is sticking to its guns.
* * *
News reports today reveal that the Vice-chancellor of Swansea University, Prof Richard Davies, and Prof Marc Clement have been suspended (on full pay), along with two other employees, whilst an internal investigation continues. The university are not releasing further details at the moment only to say that the investigation does not concern "the academic performance of the university or its financial wellbeing".
Whatever the case, for those following the Swansea Bay City Deal saga this is interesting news. Both of them are key players, particularly Prof Clement, and both are part of the 'ARCH' project and both were very recently appointed to influential positions within the exclusive SBCD club; Richard Davies as a non-voting member of the Joint Committee and Marc Clement to the Economic Strategy Board as the representative of higher education.
We can only speculate as to the reason for the investigation and there has been no suggestion, of course, that there is a connection with the City Deal, but regardless of the reason, the suspension of two of its high profile figures is undoubtedly significant.
Llanelli born Prof Clement has had something of a controversial past, and several interesting news stories pop up on google, including his leading role in the disastrous Technium project.
He is also a director of several companies, the latest venture being Vardiola Ltd set up in February this year with fellow Swansea academic Georgios Dimitropoulos.
Listed on Companies House as providing 'hotels and similar accommodation', Prof Clement resigned from Vardiola Ltd on Saturday.
Funnily enough, Mark James is also in the property business. And also a director of Trinity St David Uni.
With regards to the City Deal, and more particularly, Mark James' private healthcare Wellness Shed down at the Great Swamp, Marc Clement was a director of Kent Neurosciences, resigning shortly before the Exec Board, behind closed doors, signed a 12 month 'exclusivity deal' with the company to develop the Village in May 2016.
As I have set out in detail here, the deal was not renewed and company dissolved last year, only to re-emerge as Sterling Health, with the Dickmann clan still at the helm, and landed the council's contract to develop the Village. Kent Neurosciences had been behind the development of a private hospital in Maidstone, Kent which required a £20m bail-out.
Questions about the council's appointment of Sterling Health were brought up at the last full council meeting,
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| L to R; Phillipa Holt-Dickmann, Mark James, Prof Richard Davies, Emlyn Dole, Franz Dickmann and Prof Marc Clement |