Former Financial Times Group chief executive Rona Fairhead is named as the government's favoured candidate to take over as BBC Trust chairman
Rona Fairhead, a non-executive director of HSBC and PepsiCo, will be questioned by the Commons media committee before ministers make the final decision. If selected, she would make history by becoming the first female chairman of the trust.
The 52-year-old married mother of three has a formidable CV spanning business, media and politics. She is a former chairman and CEO of the Financial Times Group and has a master’s degree from Harvard Business School.
She quit Pearson, parent group of the Financial Times, after missing out on the top job, and received a payoff amounting to £1 million – attracting comparisons with the BBC’s former director-general George Entwistle, who famously received an £800,000 “golden goodbye” after being in the job just two months.
Her Debretts entry lists interests including skiing, scuba diving and flying, as well as her family.
The announcement that Mrs Fairhead is the preferred candidate follows weeks of indecision during which a number of high profile candidates including Lord Coe, the London Olympics chief, and Dianne Thompson, the former chief executive of Camelot, ruled themselves out.
It also comes after Conor Burns, a leading member of the Commons culture, media and sport committee suggested ministers were “determined” to appoint a woman simply because of her gender.
Mrs Fairhead was selected following an open recruitment process, overseen by an independent assessor. She said: “The BBC is a great British institution packed with talented people, and I am honoured to have the opportunity to be the chairman of the BBC Trust.
“I am under no illusions about the significance and the enormity of the job but I am excited to have the chance to lead the BBC through the coming years.”
She is due to be questioned by the select committee on September 9 before the choice is confirmed. David Cameron will have a final official say on the appointment, ahead of formal approval from the Queen.
If approved, Mrs Fairhead will take over from Lord Patten who stepped down after three years as chairman in May due to ill health. His three years in the job were overshadowed by criticism of the BBC’s handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal, the £100 million collapse of an IT project and complaints over excessive payoffs to former executives.
Diana Coyle, a trustee, has been acting trust chairman in the interim period.
The announcement that Mrs Fairhead has emerged as preferred candidate comes amid growing fears that others were being put off the role due to its time commitments and heavy public scrutiny. High-profile women including businesswoman Dame Marjorie Scardino and Baroness Hogg, a former policy adviser to Sir John Major, had ruled themselves out.
Martyn Rose, the chairman of the English National Opera and Sir Peter Bazalgette, the chairman of Arts Council England had also reportedly said they were not interested. Early favourites Howard Stringer and Richard Lambert were also quickly ruled out.
Last month, there were even claims that ministers were prepared to reopen the search in order to attract a higher calibre of candidate.
But announcing the selection of Mrs Fairhead yesterday, Mr Javid appeared confident she had all the necessary attributes to take on the job.
He said: “Rona Fairhead is an exceptional individual with a highly impressive career history. Her experience of working with huge multinational corporations will undoubtedly be a real asset at the BBC Trust.
“I have no doubt she will provide the strong leadership the position demands and will prove to be a worthy champion of licence fee payers.
“I am sure that under Rona’s leadership the BBC will continue to play a central role in informing, educating and entertaining the nation.”
Mrs Fairhead will take on the difficult task of renegotiating the corporation’s funding agreement ahead of the new royal charter being granted in 2016. There is also likely to be a heated debate over the future of the licence fee, with many complaining that they should not have to pay the £145.50 annual levy.
Mrs Fairhead has a good understanding of the media due to her roles with the Financial Times Group and as former non-executive director of the Economist Group. She also has strong political connections having served as a non-executive director at the Cabinet Office, a role she has now relinquished.
She was awarded a CBE in 2012 and appointed as one of the Prime Minister’s business ambassadors earlier this year.
Mrs Fairhead started her career with Bain & Co and Morgan Stanley, and then took an MBA at Harvard Business School.
She was head of strategy at Short Brothers and ran Bombardier’s UK operations before becoming head of strategy at ICI.
At HSBC she chairs the bank’s North American board and sits on the nominations and risk committees. Douglas Flint, the chairman, and other directors, including Sir Simon Robertson, are believed to be pushing her to take more senior roles elsewhere. Earlier this year she joined the board of PepsiCo.
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