Happy ... retirement

Happy birthday to Peter Toyne, beleaguered vice-chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, who is 60 today.

Some of his staff, however, are unlikely to wish him many happy returns to the campus. Toyne,

having announced plans to slash Pounds 2.5 million from the budget

earlier this year, had to deny rumours of his impending resignation.

Now, just weeks after the university announced that its quest for a finance director had failed to produce a suitable candidate, sources within the college are predicting Professor Toyne will announce

his early retirement very soon indeed.