PARENTS at one of Scotland's most prestigious private schools are questioning the appointment of Jackson Carlaw, a former governor, to lead its strategic review, just months after two of his businesses
collapsed.
They are astonished by the development, especially when Hutchesons' Grammar is embroiled in controversy over perceived falling standards and concerns about finances.
The board of governors yesterday defended the appointment, saying it was not only ''grateful'' to Mr Carlaw for undertaking the job, but for using his extensive knowledge for the Glasgow school's good.
Mr Carlaw was joint head of FirstFord, the car dealership with eight franchises in the west of Scotland which was placed in receivership last November, threatening 300 jobs.
He is also a director of Wylies (Automative Services), trading as Auto Contracts, which went into administration in February.
The contract hire and leasing firm is being wound up, and 18 people have lost their jobs.
The latest available documents lodged with Companies House reveal its four directors took (pounds) 163,248 from the company in the year ended 2000, when losses were (pounds) 39,000, compared with more than (pounds) 290,000 in 1999.
A spokesman for Ernst and Young, the administrator, said yesterday: ''It is in wind-down mode, having been unable to sell it as a going concern.''
Mr Carlaw, 44, is a former vice-chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party and remains an executive member.
He was the Tories' failed MSP candidate in Eastwood in May.
He became a Hutchesons' governor in 2001 but resigned in July to take up the new post.
His remit is ''to ensure the school remains at the forefront of modern educational expectations''.
The school refused to say how much he was being paid for the part-time role.
Issues surrounding the appointment are expected to be raised at the forthcoming annual meeting.
Jack Irvine, who has two children at Hutchesons', said: ''It beggars belief that a failed businessman has been appointed to the position.''
He added: ''Other parents I have spoken to are also astonished by the appointment, bearing in mind Hutchesons' has access to some of the finest brains in the west of Scotland, including successful businessmen.''
Other parents, who asked not to be identified, expressed little confidence in the appointment. One said: ''With his track record, I cannot understand how it is considered he will turn fortunes around.''
Mr Carlaw did not respond to questions about his appointment.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article