Virgin Media Appoints Chief Executive

Virgin Media has appointed Neil Berkett to the role of chief executive officer and announced the resignation of its chief financial officer, Jacques Kerrest.

Burkett, who been acting chief executive officer since the resignation of Steve Burch in August 2007 (see Virgin Media CEO Steps Down), will also be joining the board of directors.

Kerrest, who joined NTL in 2004, will leave the company in early April. An executive search for a permanent CFO is underway and an announcement about a successor will be made in due course, said Virgin Media.

Jim Mooney, chairman of Virgin Media, said: “Neil has a long and successful track record of managing and developing consumer-facing businesses and the board is delighted that he has accepted the role of chief executive officer. As COO, he was the driving force behind the successful integration of NTL and Telewest.

“Since taking on the role of acting CEO six months ago, he’s demonstrated that he has both the strategic vision and operational experience to take the company into its next phase of growth.”

Last week, Virgin Media announced that it added 24,000 net cable subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2007, while churn dropped to 1.4% from 1.7% in the previous quarter (see Virgin Media Enjoys Subscriber Boost).

Earlier in the week, Virgin Media said that it is appealing against the Competition Commission’s ruling that Sky must reduce its 17.9% stake in ITV (see Virgin Media Launches Legal Challenge To Sky-ITV Share Ruling).

It said in a statement: “While Virgin Media strongly supports the Competition Commission’s conclusions that the acquisition has led to a substantial lessening of competition, it is appealing the Competition Commission’s recommendation that a reduction of BSkyB’s stake in ITV to 7.5% is adequate to address this problem.”

Virgin Media: www.virginmedia.com