Staff at Kingston may sometimes find it hard to believe there are VCs as nasty and incompetent as our own, but events at Reading demonstrate the Riverhouse Rat has some stiff competition in the bastard stakes. The Reading VC, David Bell, has no ringing endorsement from his staff: they’re running a vote of no confidence. Somewhat like our own management clown, he has enlisted the services of a consultant, that overpaid breed who make a good living from bullshit and self service; except Reading have gone the whole hog and retained PricewaterhouseCoopers — the dodgy accountants whose talents lie in covering up City financial dodges — to provide a justification for Bell’s dirty work, the sacking of many staff under the euphemism of restructuring.
Unfortunately staff votes of no confidence have little clout. Even if the motion is won the smug Reading VC can safely ignore it. So not the end of Bell, despite being a Bell—