New ITV Boss Claims Allen Is Safe As Chief Executive
Charles Allen’s position as ITV chief executive looked secure last night after newly appointed chairman, Sir Peter Burt, said he had no intention of attempting to oust his second in command.
The former chief executive of the Bank of Scotland said he was confident that Allen was capable of helping ITV face the considerable integration challenges that lie ahead following the completion of Carlton and Granada’s long-awaited merger (see ITV Appoints Ex-Bank Of Scotland Boss As New Chairman).
Speaking after he was confirmed as chairman by ITV’s nominations committee last night, Burt said: “I would not have accepted the job if my first task had been to get rid of the chief executive. That would have been absolutely daft.”
The announcement ends speculation that shareholders were lining up candidates to replace Allen in the event that the new chairman would want to bring in his own chief executive. Allen did not receive a strong show of support when Michael Green was ousted as chairman designate by institutional investors and many thought he had been given a stay of execution to see the merger through (see Green Looks Set To Go As Granada Withholds Support).
Burt saw-off competition from Tesco chairman, John Gardiner, to take up the £200,000 a year non-executive position at the helm of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster. His appointment has been welcomed by ITV largest shareholder, Fidelity, in a gesture that could herald a new era of stability for the company (see ITV To Announce Appointment Of New Chairman Next Week).
However, some media executives are understood to have been surprised by the appointment of Burt, who has spent most of his career working for Bank of Scotland and has no experience of the television industry. According to the Times, one senior industry figure believes it “extraordinary” that ITV is now being run by “a banker and an accountant”.
It is expected that the merged ITV company will benefit from cost savings of around £100 million. Some analysts predict this figure could be even higher and Merrill Lynch believes that even greater synergies could be found if it were to buy up the remaining five ITV licenses (see ITV Enters New Phase With Merger Completion).
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