Robert Webb QC
CHAIRMAN
Appointed: 1 October 2009
Robert Webb QC was appointed a Non-executive Director of the BBC in
January 2007 and was appointed Chairman of BBC Worldwide in October
2009. He is also Chairman of the BBC Commercial Holdings Board.
After reading Law he was called to the Bar in 1971 and appointed QC
in 1988. Robert was General Counsel at British Airways from 1998 to
2009. He is Chairman of Autonomy Corporation plc and a
Non-executive Director of the London Stock Exchange plc, Hakluyt
& Co Ltd and Argent Group plc.
John Smith
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Appointed: 18 March 2005
John Smith became BBC Worldwide's interim Chief Executive in July
2004. and was confirmed in the post the following March. Before he
joined BBC Worldwide, John was the BBC's Chief Operating Officer,
and held other senior executive roles at the BBC including Finance
Director and Director of Finance, Property & Business
Affairs.
Before joining the BBC, he held posts at BR Engineering Ltd,
Sealink, Seaspeed Hovercraft and other commercial subsidiaries
owned by the British Rail Group. John sat on the BBC's Executive
Board from 1996 to 2009. He is a Director of the Henley Festival
and Vice-President of the Royal Television Society and is also
Non-executive Director at Burberry plc.
Sharon Baylay**
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Appointed: 1 February 2010
Sharon Baylay is the BBC's Director of Marketing, Communications
& Audiences (since May 2009). Sharon is also a member of the
BBC Executive Board and a Director of Freesat (UK) Ltd and Digital
UK Ltd. Sharon joined the BBC from Microsoft Corporation where she
held a range of senior management roles including running the
international MSN businesses in EMEA, Asia Pacific, Greater China
and the Americas. Her career started at Olivetti and
Computacentre.
**Sharon Baylay stepped down as a Non-executive Director of the Company on 26 November 2010.
Neil Chugani*
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Appointed: 3 December 2007
Neil Chugani leads and develops all aspects of BBC
Worldwide's financial strategy. Before joining BBC Worldwide, Neil
worked in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs
International in London where he advised a number of the firm's
media and entertainment clients on a range of merger and
acquisition and financing transactions. Prior to that he spent
seven years in a number of senior executive roles at BSkyB Group
plc. Neil started his career at Price Waterhouse where he qualified
as a Chartered Accountant.
*Post signature of the BBC Worldwide Accounts 2009/10, Neil Chugani stepped down as Chief Financial Officer and as an Executive Director of the company with effect from 17 June 2010. Philip Vincent, who was Deputy Chief Financial Officer, was appointed Acting Chief Financial Officer on the same day and was appointed CFO with effect from 1 December 2010.
Simon Clift***
INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
Appointed: 1 November 2006
Simon Clift retired from Unilever plc in 2010 after spending 28
years in various management positions in the UK, Portugal, Austria,
Mexico and Brazil. His roles included Managing Director of Elida
Gibbs Brazil and chairman of Unilever's Latin American Personal
Care category based in São Paulo. He eventually became Unilever's
first-ever Global Chief Marketing Officer, with overall
responsibility for market research, media, advertising agency
management, and the development of talent.
***Simon Clift stepped down as an Independent Non-executive Director of the Company on 31 October 2010.
Nicholas Eldred
NON-EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
Appointed: 31 January 2006
Nicholas Eldred is Group General Counsel and Secretary of
the BBC. He is also a Director of BBC Commercial Holdings, Director
of BBC Studios and Post Production, and Chairman of BBC Commercial
Holdings Audit Committee. Nicholas joined the BBC in August 2001
from O2 Ltd (previously BT Cellnet) where he had been Director of
Legal and Business Affairs and Company Secretary. He had joined BT
Cellnet from BT plc where he was head of the mergers and
acquisitions legal team. Previously he was a corporate lawyer with
city law firm Simmons & Simmons.
Thomas Geitner
INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
Appointed: 1 February 2007
Thomas Geitner is an Executive Director of Henkel AG and heads the
global Henkel Adhesive Technologies division. Prior to this he was
an Executive Director of Vodafone Group plc, 2000 to 2006, with
responsibility for Global Business Integration. Between 1995 and
1999 Thomas headed the Engineering and Telecommunication Division
of RWE AG and was President of the Vacuum Technology Division of
Leybold AG, 1992 to 1995. He was Director of Manufacturing at
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG for nine years until 1991.
Zarin Patel
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Appointed: 31 January 2006
Zarin Patel took up the role of Group Finance Director for the BBC
in December 2004. Her title is now Chief Financial Officer. Zarin
joined the BBC in 1998 as Group Financial Controller. She trained
as a chartered accountant with KPMG, where she gained 15 years'
experience at a senior level with multi-national corporations
across the industrial and commercial sectors.
Tim Weller
INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR
Appointed: 26 April 2010
Tim Weller is Chief Financial Officer of Cable&Wireless
Worldwide and a member of its Board of Directors. He was Chief
Financial Officer for United Utilities plc from July 2006 and
played a key role in strategically realigning the group and
restructuring its businesses prior to the £1.8bn sale of United
Utilities Electricity. Tim's career began at KPMG where he became
Partner in the Infrastructure Audit and Accounting Group in 1997
before joining the Granada Group plc where he was Director of
Financial Control.