Charles Allen (businessman)

Charles Allen
Born	4 January 1957 (1957-01-04) (age 54) United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Occupation	Businessman
Years active	1991–present
Title	CEO of Granada Group plc (1996–2000) Non-executive director of Tesco plc (1999–present)[1] Executive chairman of Granada Media plc (2000–04) CEO of ITV plc (2004–07) Chairman of Global Radio UK Ltd. (2007–present) Executive chairman of EMI (2008–10)

Charles Allen (born 4 January 1957) is a British businessman, who is the Chairman of Global Radio Group, non executive director of Virgin Media, Senior Advisor to Goldman Sachs was Chief Executive of Granada Group Plc from 1996 till 2000, Executive Chairman of Granada Media Plc 2000 to 2004, Chief Executive of ITV plc from its formation in 2004 until 2007 and Chairman of EMI the music company from 2008 to 2010.

Criticism

Allen now holds a high profiles range of directorships and media roles. However, the irony is that over 20 years ago he was criticised as having too little media experience to have taken on the monumental role of chief executive of Granada. He now holds positions across a number of media sector companies.^[2]

Television

He joined Granada Group In 1991, as CEO of Granada TV, he became Group Chief Executive During the next several years he was instrumental in the takeovers of Forte Hotels for £3.9 billion in 1997 and the takeovers of LWT and Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television in 1994 and 1999 respectively. In 2001 Granada Group merged with Compass to form Granada Compass, then demerged into Granada Media Plc and Compass Group. He remained with Granada when the two companies demerged and became Executive Chairman of Granada plc in 2001. When Granada merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc, Allen became the new company's Chief Executive.^[3]

ITV plc announced on 8 August 2006 that Allen was stepping down after fifteen years with the company. In a statement, ITV plc said Mr Allen would remain at the company while head-hunters carried out the process of finding a replacement.

Finance director John Cresswell has been appointed interim chief executive from October 1 and will work alongside Mr Allen to ensure an "orderly transition".^[4]

Radio

Charles Allen is currently Chairman of the largest commercial radio group in Britain, Global Radio which is responsible for spawning The Heart Network.

Other interests

He has been Chief Advisor to the British Government at the Home Office and is a Senior Advisor to Goldman Sachs Private Equity. Mr Allen is also a Non-executive Director of the London Olympic Committee,^[5] Non-executive Director of Tesco^[6] a non executive director of Virgin Media and is involved with the natural products start up Natural Health International.^[7] He has also been appointed non-executive chairman at EMI Music, the music label behind Kylie Minogue and Coldplay.^[2] Mr Allen successfully chaired the 2002 Commonwelth Games.

In 2003 Mr Allen was awarded the Commander of the British Empire for his services to sport and community. In a 2008 annual survey^[8] by The Independent of the UK's most influential gay and lesbian people, Charles Allen re-entered the list at number 22 dropping 7 places from 2006.

References

1. ^ http://ar2010.tescoplc.com/a-business-for-a-new-decade/board-of-directors.aspx
2. ^ ^{a b} [1]
3. ^ ITV plc, accessed 6 July 2006.
4. ^ ITV plc press release, issued 2006-08-08, accessed 2006-09-30
5. ^ London Olympic Committee board
6. ^ Tesco board of directors
7. ^ Natural Health International shareholders details
8. ^ [2]

Preceded by None

Chief Executive of ITV plc 2004–06

Succeeded by Michael Grade (Executive chairman)

[3]

Persondata
Name	Allen, Charles
Alternative names
Short description	Businessman
Date of birth	4 January 1957
Place of birth	United Kingdom
Date of death
Place of death