Students at the University of York were shocked to see that their Vice-Chancellor, Charlie Jeffery, was appearing on the BBC programme Dragon’s Den. I watched the show live last Thursday, and I have recounted a summary of the events below.

Charlie opened the pitch (£15 million for an 85% share in the University of York) well, stressing the commitment to good quality education that has existed since the founding of the University in 1963. He showed them a model of Campus West whilst explaining that Campus East was still “a work in progress”.

However, things began to get more difficult when Peter Jones asked Charlie about the turnover and profitability of the University. There was a long, awkward silence, and then Charlie explained that, at York, we’re experiencing £15 million in “budgetary adjustments”. When pressed by Jones on this issue, he admitted that such jargon basically just means loss. Immediately after this, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, and Peter Jones all said “I’m out” in unison. This left only UoY alumnus Sara Davies and some podcaster called Stephen Bartlett.

Davies opened proceedings by offering Jeffery all of the money for 87.5%, because she wanted “to see York return to its former greatness”. Bartlett then countered this offer by proposing all of the money but for 86% of the University. Due to his connections in podcasting and lower shareholding offer, Jeffery had a very long conversation with the back wall before finally accepting Bartlett’s offer.

So, I suppose that means we’re owned by the creator of, er, Diary of a CEO, then. Cool, I guess. 

First published in Issue 64