New appointments for the BBC Board

The BBC has announced five new non-executive directors to its board: Simon Burke, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Ian Hargreaves, Tom Ilube and Nicholas Serota. The BBC executives joining Tony Hall, Director-General, on the Board are Anne Bulford, Ken MacQuarrie and Tim Davie. Under the terms of the BBC Royal Charter, appointment of the BBC Chair and members is made by HM The Queen on recommendation from Ministers (the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, through the Prime Minister). Remuneration for the role of BBC Board Members is £33,000 per annum.

Overall the new BBC Board, which will be responsible for overseeing a strong and independent BBC, will be made up of 14 members:

a Chair appointed via a public appointments process coordinated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The selection panel for this appointment was chaired by a Public Appointments Assessor, nominated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments;
four non-executive board members representing each of the devolved nations, also appointed through a public appointments process coordinated by DCMS;
five non-executive board members appointed by the BBC Board; and
four executive members appointed by the BBC, including the BBC Director General, Tony Hall.

Sir David Clementi, Chairman of the BBC, said: “I’m delighted to have been able to put together such a talented board with a broad range of skills and experience who will be able to ensure the BBC remains a first class broadcaster. The Board will push the BBC to offer the highest quality, hold its executives to account on delivery, while protecting its independence to ensure licence fee payers get the very best programmes and services.”

BBC Executives on the Board

The BBC executives joining Tony Hall, Director-General, on the Board are Anne Bulford, Ken MacQuarrie and Tim Davie. On the appointment of the BBC executives, Sir David said: “Under the new Charter, four members of the Board must be executive directors, and this number must include the BBC’s Director-General.

“Reporting to the Director-General is a senior team including Anne Bulford, Tim Davie, James Harding, Mark Linsey, Charlotte Moore, Ken MacQuarrie and James Purnell. All of them will regularly attend Board meetings.

“Anne Bulford is the Deputy Director-General with responsibility for the BBC’s finance and operations. In view of the Board’s central responsibility for financial stewardship of the Corporation, Anne will join the Board.

“Ken MacQuarrie will also join the Board. Ken is the executive director responsible for the Nations and Regions. Oversight of the BBC’s public service obligations in the Nations and Regions will form an important part of the agenda of the new Board, and Ken will work closely with the Government-appointed members for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“In addition, Tim Davie will join the Board. Tim is the Chief Executive Officer of BBC Worldwide, which is an important part of the BBC’s commercial portfolio and whose success will be critical to the Corporation during the new Charter period.”

The BBC appointments announced today follow the recent announcement by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that Steve Morrison and Dr Ashley Steel are the Board members for Scotland and England respectively. Members for Wales and Northern Ireland are yet to be appointed. No Board member for Wales has been appointed and another competition will now be launched to fill the vacancy.

About Simon Burke

Simon Burke is an experienced retail and consumer executive and has managed some of the best-known retail names in the UK. He trained as a chartered accountant before joining Virgin, where he held various positions, including CEO of Virgin Retail, Virgin Cinemas, and Virgin Entertainment Group. He has been Chairman or Chief Executive of retail brands such as Hamleys, Majestic Wine, Superquinn, the iconic Irish supermarket chain, Hobbycraft and Bathstore.com, as well as Mitchells & Butlers, the FTSE 250 pub and restaurant business. Currently Simon is chairman of Blue Diamond, the garden centre retailer, and of The Light Cinema Group. He is also a director of the Co-Operative Group and the food producer Bakkavor. He is currently a member of the BBC Executive Board, and Chairman of the Audit Committee

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE has been a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords since 2010. Her Paralympian career saw her compete in five Paralympic Games winning 16 medals in total. Baroness Grey-Thompson has sat on the boards of the National Disability Council, the Sports Council for Wales and UK Sport, and currently sits on the boards of TfL and the London Legacy Development Corporation. Her charity appointments include being board members of The Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Sportsaid and The Tennis Foundation.

Ian Hargreaves CBE

Tom Ilube

Tom Ilube is a technology entrepreneur and educational philanthropist. He is currently CEO of cyber security firm Crossword Cybersecurity plc and has previously founded several start up technology businesses. His 30-year career in the UK technology sector includes roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Goldman Sachs and the London Stock Exchange. In his educational work, Tom is Chair of ADA College, the new National College for Digital Skills and the African Science Academy, the continent's first all-girls science and maths school.

Sir Nicholas Serota

Sir Nicholas Serota is Chair of Arts Council England and Director of Tate, from which he will retire at the end of May. During his period as Director (1988-2017), Tate has opened Tate St Ives and Tate Modern, redefining the Millbank building as Tate Britain. Sir Nicholas has been a member of the Visual Arts Advisory Committee of the British Council, a Trustee of the Architecture Foundation and a commissioner on the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. He was a member of the Olympic Delivery Authority which was responsible for building the Olympic Park in East London for 2012. He is currently a member of the BBC Executive Board.

About Steve Morrison

Steve Morrison’s career in broadcasting began at BBC Radio Scotland (Edinburgh) and BBC Television (Glasgow). He then moved to Granada where he worked as both Head of Regional Programmes and Director of Programmes, eventually becoming Chief Executive of Granada plc. During his time at Granada he was joint Chairman of the Granada/Scottish Television airtime sales house.

Steve was the founding Chief Executive of independent production companies group All3Media, and subsequently its Chairman, now retired. All3Media became the leading group of British owned Independent TV Production companies before it was sold to a joint venture of Discovery and Liberty Media.

Steve also holds an Honorary Doctorate of Social Science from Edinburgh and is currently the Rector of Edinburgh University.

About Ashley Steel

Currently Dr Ashley Steel is a non executive director on the boards of National Express plc, the Civil Aviation Authority and Ince & Co, an international law firm. She is a founding member of the global advisory board for Out Leadership, a New York based organisation helping Chairmen and CEO’s on LGBT business issues. Previously, Ashley was Vice Chairman at professional services firm, KPMG. During her time with the firm she worked in over 40 countries advising both listed companies and national governments. She also held global leadership roles for the firm’s transport and infrastructure practice and, while based in the USA, for its global technology and media practice.