Private school bosses knew it would run out of money a YEAR before telling parents

Published: 18:04, 27 June 2026 | Updated: 18:04, 27 June 2026 Bosses at a prestigious private school knew it would go bust nearly a YEAR before distraught parents and pupils were told of its demise. Fernhill School in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, shut its doors last week when the charitable company that ran it went into liquidation. In January parents, who paid up to £20,000 a year in tuition fees, were told the Catholic school would close and a final date was set for June 19. But analysis of the ‘Fernhill School Ltd’ accounts shows directors David Equi and Giuseppe Marini knew it was in difficulty and would likely have to stop operating nine months earlier, in April 2025. However, new pupils were still admitted at the start of the last academic year. One angry parent said: ‘This raises even more questions about the handling of the school’s finances and why we have been left in the dark. ‘If they knew there was a chance it would have to close, why did they allow a whole new intake of kids in August?’ Local MSP Clare Haughey said: ‘The school directors need to be open and transparent about how the financial situation occurred and what they knew and when.’ Fernhill school in Rutherglen shut down after more than 50 years The accounts for the year to July 2022, which were filed three years late – in April 2025 – stated: ‘The board has considered the funding requirement of the school through to June 2026 and is satisfied that sufficient resources will be made available to allow the school to continue to operate. ‘However, as a result of [factors including inflation, energy bill costs, staff costs increasing and the implementation of VAT on private schools], the board acknowledges that material uncertainty exists which may cast doubt over the school’s ability to continue as a going concern.’ In accounting, the phrase ‘going concern’ is used to describe a business that is financially stable and will be able to continue operating for another year without going into liquidation. In the same accounts, auditor Bell Barr & Co stated the charitable company had a ‘deficit of £269,360’ and it owed £389,414 more than what it had. It said: ‘This, along with other factors… indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern.’ MSP Clare Haughey has called for transparency about the school's closure The auditor dropped the school as a client last October after Mr Marini and Mr Equi filed ‘dormant’ accounts for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, despite parents of around 250 pupils paying tuition fees. A mum who had children at the school, and is a former pupil herself, said: ‘We’ve paid a lot of money to the school, and we feel the least we’re owed is an explanation of how that money has been spent.’ The school’s closure was announced in January, just days after the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator raised misconduct concerns over how it was being run. The watchdog is understood to have instructed lawyers to compel Mr Marini and Mr Equi to hand over information about the finances which they had not submitted. Meanwhile, parents have been reassured by exams body Qualifications Scotland that their children’s results will not be affected by the school’s closure. Mr Equi and Mr Marini were both contacted for comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.