Message from Sir Ian Cheshire to Channel 4 staff welcoming new appointments to Channel 4 Board

In a message sent to all Channel 4 staff regarding the appointment of five new non-executive directors to the Channel 4 board, Sir Ian Cheshire, Chair of the Channel 4 Board, said:

Dear everyone,

Ofcom have today announced the appointment of five new non-executive directors to the Channel 4 board. Dame Annette King, Tom Adeyoola, Debbie Wosskow OBE and Seb James join us from today for a term of three years and Alex Burford will begin a three-year term starting in June.

Annette has worked in the advertising industry for 30 years, and is currently Global Marketing Practice Lead at Accenture Song. Previously she held CEO roles at Publicis Groupe UK, Ogilvy UK and OgilvyOne, where she was also chair. Annette chairs the Advertising Association and is a member of the UK Investment Council, representing the creative industries.

Tom has 25 years’ experience in new media, disruptive technology and business strategy. He has held executive roles at Filmbank Distributors and Inspired Gaming Group, and launched Metail, a 3D and fashion AI scale-up. Having served on charity, non-profit, high-growth company, independent school and public advisory boards, Tom is co-founder of non-profit Extend Ventures which supports access to finance for underrepresented founders.

Debbie is a leading UK entrepreneur, with 25 years’ experience working with digital businesses. She founded Love Home Swap and AllBright. She is also an investor and co-chair of The Better Menopause, and an advisor to McKinsey & Company and Omaze. She serves on the boards of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, The Mayor of London’s Business Board and The Rose Review into Female Entrepreneurship.

Seb is the CEO of Boots and has had a long career working with household brands and FTSE companies, including Dixons Carphone, Synergy Insurance, Silverscreen and Mothercare. He is an experienced non-executive director and serves on the boards of Direct Line Insurance Group, Modern Art Oxford and Save the Children.

Alex has been Managing Director at Warner Records UK since 2022. The youngest Managing Director of any major record label in the UK, he has worked with some of the biggest artists in the world, including Dua Lipa and Liam Gallagher. Prior to his current role, Alex was General Manager of Black Butter – a joint venture with Sony Music.

Our new board appointments will bring diverse perspectives and invaluable insight, as we continue to deliver our strategy and transform Channel 4 into a fully digital-first public service broadcaster.

As you know, Alex and I have long championed having the right level of representation on Channel 4’s Board and our goal is for it to be in line with the organisation’s staff target of 20% ethnically diverse, 12% disability and 6% LBGTQ+. These appointments will improve representation on the Board but do not yet meet the levels of representation throughout the rest of the organisation. Appointments to the Board are not ultimately in our control due to procedural reasons but we are committed to continuing to push for further progress.

Please join me in congratulating our new directors on joining Channel 4.

Sir Ian Cheshire
Chairman