Top two executives at City & Guilds placed on leave

The Guardian - World NewsCenter-LeftEN 3 min read 100% complete by Simon GoodleyJanuary 16, 2026 at 11:46 AM

AI Summary

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City & Guilds' chief executive, Kirstie Donnelly, and chief financial officer, Abid Ismail, have been placed on leave following a Charity Commission investigation. The inquiry was launched after reports revealed million-pound bonuses were awarded to executives after the sale of City & Guilds' qualification awards business to PeopleCert last year. These bonuses, reportedly including £1.7m for Donnelly and £1.2m for Ismail, coincided with a £22m cost-cutting initiative and workforce reduction at the privatized company. Andy Moss and Konstantinos Andrikopoulos will temporarily assume Donnelly and Ismail's responsibilities, respectively. The email sent to staff did not specify the reason for the executives' absence.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Queen Victoria 30% UK 30% City of London 30% Guardian 40% Andy Moss 50% Konstantinos Andrikopoulos 50% PeopleCert ×370% Charity Commission 70% Abid Ismail ×480% Kirstie Donnelly ×490% City & Guilds ×11100%

Keywords

city & guilds 100% executives on leave 90% bonus scandal 80% charity commission investigation 70% privatisation 60% peoplecert 50% vocational trainer 50% cost-cutting 40% qualification awards 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.40

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.40)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

City of London

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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city & guilds executives on leave bonus scandal charity commission investigation privatisation peoplecert vocational trainer cost-cutting qualification awards

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