Oxford university in fake awards farce

Former staff say that they were encouraged to approach developing countries, sending mass emails and cold-calling foreign businesses and academics with claims that they had been nominated for an award. Anyone who expressed interest was told that they had to pay several thousand pounds to meet the company’s administrative costs and for a five-year licence to “use the award brand . . . for public relations and marketing purposes”.

One former EBA employee said: “We were asked to focus on areas where people would buy. The Middle East, eastern Europe and Russia . . . where the idea that money buys you credentials is still there.” Another ex-employee said: “What’s £8,000 for a certificate? £8,000 is not a lot to have Oxford on your wall.”

The business, which is run by a father and son from offices in Ukraine and central Oxford, has given out thousands of awards since 2000 and is likely to have made millions of pounds. The company seeks to trade on the reputation of the University of Oxford. It uses photographs of Oxford colleges in its advertising, copies the university’s typeface in its logo and claims to offer those attending events access to “exclusive Oxford University lectures”. Awards are bestowed by John Netting, a former lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, which is a separate institution. He is thought to have become the company’s frontman and director-general after he taught Ivan Savvov, son of its founder, Anton.

The EBA also sells membership of organisations called the Academic Union and the International Club of Leaders and charges authors for articles included in a self-published journal, the Socrates Almanac, which includes material lifted from the internet. Awards are given at ceremonies held at hired venues including Oxford town hall, the Institute of Directors in London and other locations in Europe.

In an apparent effort to bolster its reputation, the EBA has paid figures including the former trade minister Lord Jones of Birmingham and the scientist Baroness Greenfield to speak at its events. It also cites a “patent” number as apparent evidence that the awards are legitimate. The number corresponds to an expired trademark for a trophy design featuring a blue hand and the words “Best enterprises of Europe prize”. The ceremonies borrow from British state pageantry with a red carpet, trumpeters, a man in a yeoman warder’s costume and a formal procession with the Union Jack.

The EBA hosts conferences under the title “Summit of Leaders” and the “Club of the Rectors of Europe”, and even claims its own knight’s order, with a code of honour. It has a crest and award recipients are draped with chains or academic-style robes. They are presented with a trophy and a certificate with a wax seal. Former staff say that they were told to find award-winners by trawling the internet for email addresses of academics and business executives. Much of this was carried out from the EBA’s Ukrainian office, with leads passed on to English- speaking staff in Oxford.

One ex-employee said that they were told to muddy the distinction between the EBA and Oxford University. “We were selling the idea that they were becoming part of the great Oxford institution,” the former employee said. “It was just up to adding and finding random email addresses from universities and contacting them.”

Anyone who expressed interest in receiving an award would, typically, be given several cost options, including a £9,300 “VIP package” that carried the opportunity to give a speech during the award ceremony, an interview with the EBA’s in-house electronic magazine and three nights’ hotel accommodation. Dozens of public officials have received EBA awards. Taxpayers’ money is thought to have been used in some cases to buy the prizes. Two Portuguese mayors, Fernando Ruas and José Maria da Cunha Costa, used public cash to buy “Best Cities” awards in 2013, local reports said. Mr Ruas is now an MEP. He admitted paying a “registration” fee but said he believed that the EBA was credible, a view echoed by Mr Costa.

Last year the director-general of the publicly owned Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority received awards for “Manager of the Year” and “Best Enterprise”, months before he was dismissed after allegations of bribery, corruption and nepotism. The EBA, the Savvovs and Mr Netting did not respond to a request for comment. The Institute of Directors said that the venue used by the EBA is available for hire and it “does not take responsibility for the content of events”.

A spokesman for the University of Oxford said: “We can confirm that the Europe Business Assembly is not affiliated or otherwise linked to the University of Oxford. We have no further comment on this company.”

Billy Kenber