Vice-chancellor got £288,000 payout on sudden exit from Leeds

A vice-chancellor who stepped down suddenly left the University of Leeds with a final pay packet worth more than £430,000, it has emerged.

Simone Buitendijk’s departure from the Russell Group institution was announced in October 2023, with the institution saying at the time that she would “seek new leadership opportunities” in higher education.

The exit was regarded as sudden, since Professor Buitendijk had been in post for just three years at that point. And, while her employment continued until the end of December that year, provost Hai-Sui Yu took over as acting vice-chancellor from the start of November.

Leeds’ financial accounts for 2023-24 – among the first to be published in the UK sector – reveal that Professor Buitendijk received £434,000 in total compensation that year.

This included £146,000 in salary – £87,000 for the three months that she was substantive vice-chancellor, and a further £59,000 for the two months when she was “outgoing vice-chancellor”.

It also included £173,000 in “contractual post-employment notice pay”, and £115,000 in “compensation for loss of office”. The £288,000 total pay-off is one of the larger “golden goodbyes” seen in the sector in recent years.

Professor Buitendijk, a former vice-provost of Imperial College London and vice-rector magnificus at Leiden University, oversaw a period of significant change at Leeds, promising to abolish traditional lectures and replace them with a blended learning approach, during a time marked by significant industrial unrest.

She is now deputy vice-chancellor and provost of the University of Salford.

Leeds’ accounts also show that Professor Yu was awarded £260,000 for his time as interim vice-chancellor between November 2023 and the end of July 2024.

In total, this meant Leeds paid out £694,000 to its two vice-chancellors last year – a considerable uplift from 2022-23, when Professor Buitendijk received a total remuneration of £330,000.

A Leeds spokesperson said that Professor Buitendijk “received contractual salary and post-employment payments for 2023-24 which are reflected in the university’s annual accounts”.

Leeds’ accounts show that the university finished the 2023-24 academic year with a healthy surplus of £174 million, as well as £41.4 million cash inflow from operating activities.

Analysis of the sector’s 2023-24 accounts also reveal a large payout at London Metropolitan University. In January, former vice-chancellor Lynn Dobbs announced her intention to retire at the end of 2024 – but the institution appointed deputy vice-chancellor Julie Hall as successor halfway through the calendar year.

To allow the incoming vice-chancellor to “start her tenure and facilitate an early transition”, Professor Dobbs, who led the north London institution since October 2018, received £219,000 “contractual pay on retirement”, the accounts say.

On top of her £297,000 salary, £6,000 staff reward and £73,000 in pension contributions, this brought her total remuneration to £595,000 for 2023-24 – up from £327,000 the year before.

A spokesperson for London Met said Professor Dobbs was a “transformational leader" who drove the most significant turnaround in the institution’s history – including doubling income and boosting student numbers.

“The vice-chancellor’s remuneration…reflects the scale of this transformation and Professor Dobbs’ exceptional leadership in reshaping London Met into a thriving, socially engaged institution.”

The turnaround in performance enabled a multi-million-pound investment programme to improve physical and digital infrastructure and revitalised London Met’s reputation, they added.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com