Revealed: The cost of Coventry and Warwick universities bosses' flight expenses

Jet-Setting Coventry and Warwick University bosses claimed more than £370,000 in flight expenses in just three years, the Telegraph has learned.



Vice chancellors and deputy vice chancellors at Warwick University and Coventry University claimed a combined £371,737 to cover flight expenses between September 2013 and September 2016 according to figures released to the Telegraph following a Freedom of Information request.

Flights listed, the majority first or business class, included trips to glamorous destinations such as Hong Kong, Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Rio De Janeiro.

The expenses claims come against a background where the universities both charge the maximum allowed £9,000 annual fees to its undergraduate students.

Many flights were taken during the time Nigel Thrift was under scrutiny for his £349,000 annual pay for his role as Warwick University vice chancellor.

Stuart Croft, who also claimed flight expenses, took over the top job from Sir Thrift in February 2016 on a contract worth a reported £280,000 a year.

Coventry University top boss John Latham is understood to receive £303,000 annually for his role after taking up the position permanently in March 2014.

Warwick University broke down who had made the trips and the destinations visited, but Coventry University used technical FOI exemptions to avoid handing over details of who had taken flights and the precise locations - instead referencing only continents.

It emerged Warwick University’s recently departed top boss Nigel Thrift claimed a total £100,471 during the three year period.

His predecessor Stuart Croft claimed a total £37,228 over the same period.

Coventry University’s vice chancellor is said to have claimed just £3,912 between September 2013 and 2016. John Latham was appointed full time vice chancellor in March 2014.

Unnamed deputy vice chancellors at Coventry University claimed £230,124 over the same three year period.

The most expensive trip made by a Warwick University member of staff was a £7,441 business class trip to Melbourne made by Nigel Thrift on November 7, 2015.

The most expensive trip made by a Coventry University member of staff was a £5,457 business class trip to ‘Africa’ on April 27, 2016. It was made by a deputy vice chancellor, but Coventry University refused to identify who had made the journey.