Bubb apologises to Shaw Trust board

Finance | Tania Mason | 1 Oct 2008

Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb has issued a public apology to the director general and trustees of the Shaw Trust regarding an allegation he made in a press release in August.

In the statement, Bubb said that staff at the employment charity had passed a vote of no confidence in Tim Papé and the trustee board, a charge that was denied at the time by the Trust’s director of communications, Catherine A’Bear.

The allegation was contained in a press release expressing acevo’s support for ousted Shaw Trust chief executive Ian Charlesworth (pictured), and demanding his immediate reinstatement.

At the end of last week, acevo sent out a new release in which Bubb admitted he had been wrong. “I now accept that this particular statement was not accurate,” he said. “No vote (of confidence or otherwise) was undertaken or passed by the staff of the Shaw Trust.

“On behalf of acevo and personally, I retract this particular statement and apologise to the director general and trustees at the Shaw Trust for any distress or embarrassment I have caused by making it.”

Charlesworth has not been reinstated by the charity, despite acevo’s demands. According to A’Bear, he remains on gardening leave and the situation has not changed since he left at the end of July.

However, the Trust has now decided to hold fire on plans to expand operations to Australia, a proposal which is understood to be at the heart of the dispute between Charlesworth and the board. In a memo to staff this week, the management said the "current UK situation" was behind the postponement.

Charlesworth and a representative from the GMB union met with representatives of the Trust late last month to outline Charlesworth's grievance against the charity. He has accused Tim Papé and chairman John Briffitt of bullying and harassment.

A’Bear added that the charity had met with the Charity Commission to discuss Charlesworth's case but had not had any correspondence since. A Commission spokesman confirmed: “Concerns have been raised with us about issues relating to the governance and financial management of the Shaw Trust. We have now had an initial meeting with the charity’s trustees, and remain in discussion with the charity with regard to these matters.”

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