Herbert Jeffrey Wooller (born 6 March 1940) is an English accountant and educationalist. He is noted for his accountancy tuition initiatives, and for campaigning for reform of his professional institute, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The institute eventually excluded him from its membership because of his association with the Irish International University, Irish University Business School and International University Business School. Wooller has founded several educational institutions such as the Jeff Wooller College, Institute of Professional Financial Managers and Irish University Business School.
Early life and career
Born in Yorkshire, Wooller attended Millbridge Upper School and Heckmondwike Grammar School. He began his career as a banker, which took him to Bangladesh and Pakistan. When he returned to Yorkshire, he took a job with Peat Marwick, an accounting firm. In 1970, Wooller attended the London School of Economics to take a two-year Master of Science in accounting and finance. After the course ended in 1972, he went to Cass Business School and received a Doctor of Philosophy. At Cass Business School, Wooller together with Dr Peter Grinyer conducted extensive research into the corporate models of projects sponsored by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
In January 1974, he was appointed technical editor of Accountancy, with special responsibilities in industry and commerce. He created the "Students forum" section of Accountancy and also edited the "Students ask" section. He is also a former editor of The Treasurer, the monthly journal of the Association of Corporate Treasurers and contributed to Accounting and Business Research. He has previously worked as a management accountant with Tate & Lyle plc and Imperial Chemical Industries. On 2 November 1987, Wooller was appointed editor of The Accountant.
In the 1980s, Wooller set up referral courses in the United Kingdom costing £500, which were offered on a "no pass no fee" basis provided the student had completed a 200-hour work programme and a minimum of 10 tests. In 1985, Wooller called for an appeals procedure to be implemented for students who were unsuccessful in getting an extension to the normal time limit for completing examinations.
In 2007, Wooller lost his membership as an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants after appearing on television. He had made statements that discredited the professional body and accountancy.
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Wooller was a dissident member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). In 1991, Wooller accused the ICAEW of having built-in bias when it marked examinations during a recession, and used PE II (Professional Education II) results to show the bias. Wooller was fined by the ICAEW in 1995 for promoting unaccredited MBA courses. Wooller formed a ginger group when the ICAEW tried to merge with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in 1995. Wooller's ginger group opposed many of the actions of the ICAEW. The merger was shelved after the majority of the ICAEW members voted against it. The ginger group decided to keep fighting for democratic reforms and in June 1996, demanded that the executive of the ICAEW be elected directly by the 109,000 members of the body, instead of by the ICAEW's council of seventy members. A year later, Wooller demanded that members of the ICAEW be allowed to vote on Peter Gerrard's key constitutional reform proposals, and Wooller's motion failed by 1,400 votes, including proxies.