London academy school staff dropped £4,000 on ‘team building exercise’ at luxury hotel

File this under “what not to do” with excess funds from the company:

Senior managers of a north London academy school spent more than £4,000 (approximately $6,000 USD) of public money on fine food and boutique hotel accommodation for a “team-building exercise”. This same academy is facing an ongoing battle with teachers over “compulsory redundancies,” according to The Guardian.

Leaked hotel bills from the five star Threadneedles Hotel in London show nine staff members from Crest boys’ academy in Neasden dined in the hotel restaurant and spent the night in rooms that cost up to £339 (approximately $600 USD) a night.

While these kind of company events might be suitable for some businesses, the Crest boys’ academy is under hot water for this one. The academy, located in one of London’s more deprived neighborhoods, is run by E-Act, a charitable trust foundation, and four months prior to the luxury splurge let go of seven teachers, which resulted in a teachers’ strike.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said all of the hotel bill was reimbursed from department funds except for £341, which was the company’s bar tab. Apparently, the headmaster has offered to repay that portion of the expense.