Braisby joins Edge Hill to replace v-c who left after nine months

Edge Hill University has appointed Nick Braisby as its interim vice-chancellor after its former leader left after only nine months in charge.

Michael Young departed the Omskirk-based institution in February, citing “personal reasons”. He started his post last June, replacing the UK sector’s longest-serving vice-chancellor, John Cater, who held the position for 32 years.

Young, a former deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Sunderland, has since started working as a consultant.

His departure with immediate effect shocked staff at the institution, with some telling local newspaper the Liverpool Echo that there was a “vacuum” at the top of the university and it was in “freefall”.

The vice-chancellor’s responsibilities have since been carried out jointly by chief operating officer Lynn Hill and pro vice-chancellor for research and knowledge exchange George Talbot.

Braisby, a former vice-chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University, has now been drafted in to temporarily take the reins while the search for a new permanent leader was ongoing.

One of a new breed of “troubleshooter” vice-chancellors, it will be Braisby’s second interim post in less than a year after holding a similar position at the University of Bradford for the past six months.

Announcing his appointment, Edge Hill said that Braisby was a “vastly experienced academic leader with an extensive background in higher education leadership and governance”.

His appointment has been made to “provide stability and additional leadership capacity for the University’s Executive over the next nine months”, the institution added, with Braisby helping with the recruitment of his successor.

Neither Braisby nor the new vice-chancellor will alter the university’s five-year strategy, the announcement said.

Shortly before the end of Young’s short tenure, Edge Hill announced two schemes that enabled staff to either reduce their hours or apply for voluntary severance as part of efforts to trim £10 million from staffing costs.

Braisby said he was “delighted” to be joining the university, calling it a “tremendous privilege to serve…at such an important time”.

He said the university had an “ambitious vision for the next five years” and he would seek to build on its “great heritage and deep roots in the north west”.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com