Is your University going bust?

Students of Insolvency Law and Practice (all three of us) will be aware of a "tongue in cheek" but alarmingly prescient list of danger signs of corporate insolvency compiled by Mark Holman of Price Waterhouse in 1984.

Picture by Matt Banks

Anecdotal and observational, the list can be decried by academics more used to statistical rigour and triangulation in their own research efforts but still retains the ring of truth:

• Personalised number plates on the Rolls
• Company flagpole
• Fountain in the forecourt
• Fish tank in the boardroom
• Founder's statue in reception
• Beautiful new offices
• Beautiful new secretary
• Company yacht/aeroplane
• A fast-talking MD
• Directors who use military titles
• Obsession with tax avoidance
• Too many board papers
• No accountant on the board
• Too many auditors
• Too friendly with their banker
• Too many bankers

Homan opines that many of these indicate a Board / MD pre-occupied with prestige rather than profit.

Just how many of these can you see at your University?