HEBE set to close

Higher Education Business Enterprises Ltd, the higher education information agency, is set for closure. Today's meeting of the council of the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals, joint owners with the Standing Conference of Principals, will discuss proposals for "a restructuring of the group and a reassignment of its assets and activities to other agencies".

The proposals will be put forward by CVCP treasurer John Bull, vice chancellor of Plymouth University, following a review by the company's auditors. The review was prompted by concern that "the commercial performance of the group has, in a discouraging economic climate, not met initial expectations".

Set up in 1992 to develop the commercial value of collective information generated by the higher education system, it was initially funded by interest-free loans from institutions, and later from subscriptions for services. Services include recruitment fairs, postgraduate and research opportunities listings, prospectus mailings and electronic information.

HEBE chairman John Ashworth said: "This has been under consideration for some months and is part of a general reassessment of the relationships between CVCP and its agencies. HEBE has fulfilled its initial remit of starting new businesses but will probably not now be in a position to develop them further itself."