Might Jo Negrini – “Negreedy” as she was less-than-fondly known by colleagues when she was chief executive at Croydon Council – be heading for a second overly generous pay-off in just three years?
Off the wall: Jo Negrini joined Arup after leaving Croydon
Next month will see the anniversary of Negrini’s departure from Fisher’s Folly, notoriously with her £437,000 hush money pay-off authorised by Tony Newman, the Labour council leader with whom she had helped to set the council hurtling towards bankruptcy.
Since leaving Croydon, Negrini has been working mainly for Arup, the multi-national design, engineering, architecture and planning consultancy, first through her own little independent company, and from earlier this year as Arup’s “director, cities and planning design”.
But all good things come to an end, and according to the latest issue of Private Eye, that might just about be the case for Negrini’s time at Arup. Though any departure would, of course, be suitably compensated.
The Eye reckons that Negrini’s current role pays a salary “somewhere north of £120,000… Peanuts in comparison to the riches she trousered at Croydon, but enough to scrape by on”. By the time Negreedy’s time at Croydon was coming to a close, she was receiving £217,000 per year in salary and pension contributions.
Today, the nation’s most-read fortnightly satirical magazine reports, “Eyebrows were raised at Arup following Negrini’s appointment, given that the Croydon section of her CV contained little to inspire confidence.
“Nor has her performance there been anything special, despite the fact that clients are charged around £300 an hour for her pearls of wisdom.
In the pink: the latest issue of Lord Gnome’s impressive organ
“Now she has the opportunity to pocket another handsome payoff.
“Arup is looking for 200 of its 1,550-strong senior leadership team in the UK to accept voluntary redundancy on generous terms.
“As a director, Negrini would be entitled to six months’ money in lieu of notice, so with statutory redundo, holiday pay, profit-sharing payment and so on, she could pocket around £70,000, plus pension.”
At least, this time, it would not be public money that is being flashed around for Negrini’s benefit.
But it still all adds up to a very useful amount of extra “insurance” should Negrini ever need to hire expensive lawyers to contest Croydon Mayor Jason Perry’s ill-advised quest to recover from her some of the council’s cash.
“At 62 it might be tempting,” Lord Gnome notes. “Ain’t life grand?”
Or in Negreedy’s case, closer to a hundred grand…
Read more: ‘Better than evens’ chance of winning Negrini legal case
Read more: #PennReport wanted police probe into possible misconduct
Read more: Council yet to start legal action on Negrini’s £437,000 pay-off
Read more: Croydon shamed over ‘dangerous squalor’ in council flats
- Inside Croydon – as seen on TV! – has been delivering local community news since 2010. 3million page views per year in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
- If you want real journalism, actually based in the borough, you should consider paying for it. Please sign up today. Click here for more details
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SIXTH successive year in 2022 in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
I wish I could wangle one of these gigs where the worse I did, the more I got paid.
Then life would indeed be grand.
Surely Jo has the skill set required for some employer? Isn’t it time for her to become a Councillor in Local Government?
I’m beyond staggered! Surely Arup care about their re reputation … a bit? Hiring an exec with a disastrous reputation, with absolutely no qualifications or credibility must have damaged their image? Can we see Arup’s official notice about this fiasco?
It’s worth watching this week’s Panorama about Thurrock… Young Gareth Davies is on it. Works for the BIJ. Some interesting stuff about the closure of the Audit Commission by the Conservatives and it’s wider consequences.