Royal Mail’s Adam Crozier jumps ship to ITV
ITV has ended its long-running hunt for a chief executive this morning with the appointment of Adam Crozier, the Royal Mail chief executive.
Mr Crozier, 46, will take up his role this year, the broadcaster said in a statement.
Archie Norman, the former Asda chief executive who started as ITV’s chairman in January, said that Mr Crozier’s task was to “bring together the skills and talent within ITV to drive the business on its strategic journey”.
The move ends a stressful period for the broadcaster, which had struggled to find a replacement for Michael Grade.
Talks with Tony Ball, the former BSkyB chief, collapsed in September because of his pay demands.
Shares in ITV today rose 1.5 per cent to 57.45p on the announcement.
Describing Mr Crozier as a unanimous choice of non-executive directors, Mr Norman said: “Adam is a very strong leader with a great track record in delivering transformational change.
“He has worked successfully in a talent-driven organisation with government and regulators, and has a thorough understanding of the media, advertising and branding industries.”
Mr Crozier spent seven years with the Royal Mail, turning it into a profitable business and implementing a £2 billion transformation programme.
He also holds non-executive directorships at Debenhams and Camelot and is chairman of the Employers’ Forum for Disability.
Before joining the Royal Mail, Mr Crozier was chief executive of the Football Association.
He had previously held executive roles at Saatchi & Saatchi, the advertiser, and had started out as a management trainee for Mars UK.
Mr Crozier said: “I am very excited to be joining ITV, a company with a great heritage and one of the best brands in the UK.
“The entire media sector is going through enormous change and that presents both great opportunities and significant challenges for everyone in the industry. The objective for ITV is to rise to those challenges and put itself at the forefront of change.
“I am very much looking forward to working with the people at ITV and leading the transformation ahead.”
Source : The Times
