JMU rejects fears of financial crisis

Jul 9 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL John Moores University last night insisted it was not at risk of financial collapse after it was revealed on a secret list of institutions the Government feared were close to failing.

The university was among 46 institutions, largely ex-polytechnics with hundreds of thousands of students on their rolls, which it was feared were at imminent risk of collapse.

The papers released under the Freedom of Information Act catalogue institutions struggling to recruit students, control their spending and forced into mergers to prevent them going under.

Last night, a spokeswoman for John Moores University said the information, provided by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was four years out of date, relating to the period 1998 to 2003.

She stressed that the university’s situation was now “looking very rosy”.

It comes in the year after the university sold off four buildings on the city centre Hope Street, including John Lennon’s former art school, in order to help pay for a new £23.5m design academy next to the Metropolitan Cathedral.

“We have made no secret of the fact that LJMU experienced some difficulties during this period (until 2003) but this is no longer the case,” said the spokeswoman.

“Thanks to determined leadership and management, the university is now operationally stronger and more focused.

“So much so that we are planning a campus investment programme of around £110m over the next five years.

“Our teaching and research profile is among the best of any new university in the country and our links with business and commerce are expanding rapidly.”

She could not provide any detailed figures for the university’s accounts but added: “Our current financial position is testimony to the university’s renewed vision for the future.

“It is from this position of strength that we will be taking the university in new and exciting directions.”