Boyne again

The chair of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association prepares for another bruising pay round

One of the first things George Boyne told Playbook when we sat down for a chat in anticipation of this year’s pay round was that he had hoped to be in a different place.

Not physically—he seemed happy enough to be in a quiet hotel near Kensington Gardens with a pot of tea. He was down for a couple of nights from Aberdeen, where he is vice-chancellor, to meet London-based members of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association in person—a much better way of conducting discussions, he believes, than doing everything via Zoom. The different place he wanted to be concerns staff pay negotiations, which begin this month.