Lloyds Bank chief's lover faces calls to quit from university leaders after second overseas jaunt with bank boss is revealed
- Russell Group of Universities chief Wendy Piatt is now pressured to resign
- Dr Piatt met Lloyd's boss Antonio Horta Osorio in Singapore for dates
- Horta Osorio, who is married with children, has apologised to staff
- Now academics note her behaviour and 'reputational damage' to sector
- One vice-chancellor noted that Singapore visit was on uni business
Academics are calling on the university chief at the centre of the cheating scandal surrounding the boss of Lloyd's Banking Group to step down from the role, it has been reported.
There are fears that the furore surrounding Dr Wendy Piatt, 45, and her relationship with bank chief Antonio Horta Osorio could damage the reputation of the UK higher education sector.
She is director-general of the Russell Group of Universities and was on academic business in Singapore when they met.
The calls come a day after fresh allegations that Horta Osorio, 52, cheated on his wife on a second work trip, this time to San Francisco.
Dr Wendy Piatt, the director general & chief executive of the Russell Group of Universities, is facing calls to step down from the role
Horta-Osorio with Ana attending Ladies Day at Glorious Goodwood held at Goodwood Racecourse on August 2, 2012 in Chichester, England
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one leading vice-chancellor told The Sunday Times that there were 'serious questions' to be answered about the first trip on which they met in Singapore.
He said that this trip was 'apparently on Russell Group business'.
'Wendy must always have been aware of the danger of reputational damage to the Russell Group and I'm sure she'll want to take that into account as she decides what to do,' he told the Times.
The Russell Group represents 24 universities across the UK including the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Political Science and King's College London.
Buckingham University professor Alan Smithers - whose university is independent - told the newspaper that while the private lives of individuals of their own business, it was 'disreputable behaviour' to go on trips on behalf of universities and then use them to meet a secret lover.
'It should lead to resignation to safeguard the reputation of our top universities.'
The San Francisco trip emerged only days after he expressed 'deep regret' to his 75,000 staff after being caught having an alleged affair on a business trip to Singapore.
The married father-of-three, 52, spent time in a hotel room with Dr Piatt while in Singapore for a conference in June this year.
Hand in hand: Mr Horta Osorio and wife Ana were seen publicly for the first time since the revelations at a funeral in Portugal last week
But The Sun yesterday said it had learned about a second trip Mr Horta Osorio made seven months earlier, in November last year, when he is said to have hooked up with Dr Piatt.
On this occasion he was attending a banking conference and she was visiting university contacts in California.
But the revelations come at an extremely sensitive time for the bank.
Lloyds boss Antonio Horta Osorio (pictured left) has been accused of meeting Dr Wendy Piatt (right) in San Francisco last year, seven months before the infamous trip to Singapore
Last month Mr Horta Osorio announced Lloyds was cutting 3,000 jobs and shutting 200 branches as part of an efficiency drive, but with the bank declaring profits had doubled in the first half of 2016 to £2.5billion, it was heavily criticised for blaming the job losses and closures on Brexit.
During the financial crisis, the government spent £20.5bn of taxpayers' money rescuing Lloyds, acquiring a 43 percent share in the bank. It has since sold most of those shares but taxpayers still own nine percent of Lloyds.
In his memo to staff last week he apologised for the damage the 'adverse publicity' had done to the bank's reputation.
He has faced intense media coverage and questions about what was paid for on expenses after racking up a room bill of £3,276 during his stay in June, with £550 spent in the spa.
Lloyds insisted no rules were broken and said the chief executive paid personal costs out of his own pocket.
In a statement to The Sun the company said of the San Francisco trip: 'All expenses for this business trip were appropriately claimed. We do not comment on personal issues.'
Most watched News videos
- Public gather in London to view suspected Banksy art work
- Vicious teen brawl broken up by SoCal cops before mall shut down
- Putin secures landslide victory in Russian election, early results
- 'I could write a whole book on it': Peter Andre on Louis Walsh
- Vladimir Putin says his election win will consolidate Russian society
- Moment female acrobat falls 12ft after circus act goes wrong
- Bodycam shows Riley Strain speaking to cops night he went missing
- Moment Eagle Ridge boy is swarmed and beaten up by mob of students
- AOC's NYC district filled with migrants running a 'flea market'
- Spectators fume as protesters disrupt Paris show jumping event
- Horror scenes after man falls to death from hot air balloon in VIC
- Irish Guards pay tribute to Princess of Wales on St Patrick's Day