Success!

A little over a year ago a publication by the name of Private Eye asked, pensively, "How much longer can Ian Austin last as Chair of the University of Salford's Audit Committee?"

Quietly, and without a fanfare, the University have finally answered this question - just over a year, it turns out.

Yes, 'Daffyd' Austin no longer presides over the Audit Committee, his role as Chair now having been filled by one Eric Healey (a Chartered Accountant we think - and seemingly quite a good one at that).

We are quite sure that Daffyd's departure in no way relates to revelations in The Lawyer that he is currently fighting off a claim by Halliwells' administrators BDO to repay the £21m reverse premium he - among others - secretly pocketed whilst serving as Managing Partner.

The three main 'tranches' of the High Court Claim by BDO have been listed by 'The Legal Week' as being:

"breaching Halliwells' partnership deed by failing to act in good faith and parting with the LLP's property "otherwise than in the ordinary course of business"; breaching their fiduciary duties to act in the best interests of the firm, not to make a "secret profit" and not to prefer their personal interests over the firm's; and breaching the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) regulations 2001"


We are naturally quite sure that Daffyd's ongoing attempts to mediate away the High Court case will not inhibit his capacity to continue serving on the Audit Committee.

We do wish him all the best for the future.