Ex-culture boss Jason Harborow: I was bullied and intimidated

Feb 8 2008

FORMER culture chief Jason Harborow today told how he felt “bullied and intimidated” during his time in charge of Liverpool Culture Company.

He was speaking out for the first time since resigning from his post last week with a £230,000 pay-off.

On Liverpool station City Talk, the 37-year-old father-of-three said: “Bullied is a big word. For a stocky lad like me, I don’t like to admit it. But there were times I felt bullied and intimidated.”

Mr Harborow spoke about how he felt sorry for his team after a “blame culture” sprang up surrounding the axed Mathew Street festival.

He said: “There were lots of factors levelled against the team to put them in the position where the outdoor stages weren’t possible.

“If we couldn’t spread the stages around the city we were running out of spaces.

“My biggest disappointment was we should have stuck together better as a team and not created the blame culture. The whole team got really upset.”

“What I tried to build into the Culture Company was a team mentality – we’d share the successes and the failures and work together.”

Mr Harborow revealed illness forced him to take a week off work last June.

But he returned “against doctors’ advice” because he was committed to making the Capital of Culture launch a success.

He denied his absence was “tactical” after the row that blew up over Mathew Street.

“The launch in September was a huge success and then two or three days later I had a bit of a relapse. Doctors said it was my body telling me ‘you need a break’.

“I did everything I could to get back to work and I had every intention of coming back.”

Yesterday, it was revealed the former culture chief executive had complained to the Standards Board for England about council leader Warren Bradley and executive member for regeneration Mike Storey.

Mr Harborow said: “My day has gone. But it could be done to someone else. I want to highlight that type of behaviour sometimes takes place, and sometimes in Liverpool.”

But he said he believed he still had a relationship with the council bosses.

He added: “At the opening weekend the first person I looked out for to shake hands with and talk to was Warren Bradley.”

Mr Harborow revealed he had set up a new base in the city centre and would be working around the north west and further afield.

He said he was planning to carry out public speaking engagements but had no plans to write a “kiss-and-tell” book.

He said: “I’m not bitter and vindictive. I don’t think anyone would buy that book apart from my mum and dad.”