Ray Dowd, interim principal of Salisbury College.TROUBLESHOOTER Ray Dowd has taken the helm at struggling Salisbury College.

The Journal spoke to the 52-year-old Wirral Metropolitan College principal, who has been brought in as interim principal at the Southampton Road site until a permanent appointment is made in the summer. Mr Dowd took up the post after being approached by the college board of corporation when former principal Howard O'Keeffe resigned.

Having submitted a detailed recovery strategy to the board, which was adopted on March 9, Mr Dowd will undertake the normal duties of principal - meeting with the education authority, local businesses and the community to create a dynamic centre of learning.

He said: "Really, my job is to implement the recovery plan, and I am working with the corporation to provide advice and guidance on how to ensure the college has a successful future.

"The college is the only further education college in the city and it has a very important role to play, providing skills for the local economy - and it needs to do that in a responsive way but also with high quality."

Mr Dowd has a wealth of experience in rejuvenating failing colleges, having been appointed to the Wirral college in 1999, when it was £13.9m in the red and suffering from the second-worst inspection record in the country.

It has since become one of the most successful further education centres in the country, having cleared all its debts, and staff and students eagerly await the launch of a new £14m campus later this year.

"My expectation for the future is that Salisbury College will be amongst the best in the country in terms of what it does," said Mr Dowd.

"It is paving the way for that to start happening and that means having the right staff with the right skills in the right type of environment.

"The college has suffered from an increase in competition.

"What we need to do is re-establish the confidence and trust in our local community, so people see the college as their first choice."

As part of the recovery plan, the college announced 85 job cuts in February and staff had until March 5 to submit voluntary redundancy applications.

The college will start the process of compulsory redundancies if there is a shortfall in the number of applications accepted by the board.

Mr Dowd has a wealth of experience in rejuvenating failing colleges, having been appointed to the Wirral college in 1999, when it was £13.9m in the red and suffering from the second-worst inspection record in the country.

It has since become one of the most successful further education centres in the country, having cleared all its debts, and staff and students eagerly await the launch of a new £14m campus later this year.

"My expectation for the future is that Salisbury College will be amongst the best in the country in terms of what it does," said Mr Dowd.

"It is paving the way for that to start happening and that means having the right staff with the right skills in the right type of environment.

"The college has suffered from an increase in competition.

"What we need to do is re-establish the confidence and trust in our local community, so people see the college as their first choice."

As part of the recovery plan, the college announced 85 job cuts in February and staff had until March 5 to submit voluntary redundancy applications.

The college will start the process of compulsory redundancies if there is a shortfall in the number of applications accepted by the board.