John Smith (born August 1957) was the
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
of
BBC Worldwide from 2004 until 2012 and was a board member of
Burberry Group plc and Chief Operating Officer. He is now Chairman of several businesses and a Director of both listed and private equity owned companies.
Smith attended the Shelton Lock school (which became
Merrill College
Merrill College is a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The theme of the college, and the name of its freshman core course, is "cultural identities and global consciousness."
Location
Merrill is located at the far n ...
) in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
. He later went to the
Harvard Business School. He completed the management development programme at the BRB Group before joining the BBC where he became CFO then COO. From there he acme CEO of BBC Worldwide.
At the BBC
Smith joined the BBC in 1989, becoming the BBC's Finance Director (CFO) in 1996. In April 2000, he became Director of Finance, Property & Business Affairs, adding Property, Procurement and Programme Rights to his portfolio. He oversaw the redevelopment of significant properties for the BBC, including Broadcasting House in Central London and the Media Village in W12. He also chaired the BBC Pension Fund Investment Committee. In June 2004, he became the BBC's Chief Operating Officer.
He undertook the Commercial Review of all the BBC's commercial activities and was responsible in 2004 for the sale of BBC Technology to
Siemens Business Services Atos Information Technology Incorporated is a service provider which is owned by Atos. Atos Information Technology Incorporated provides a wide range of information technology services such as consulting, systems integration, and IT management.
Ato ...
, and in 2005, he led the sale of BBC Broadcast to Creative Broadcast Services Limited, a Macquarie Company. This company became
Red Bee Media
Red Bee Media, formerly Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services (EBMS), is an international broadcasting and media services company and the largest access provider in Europe. Red Bee has its headquarters in London, England, with branch offices in ...
. He was Chairman of BBC Studios, and Post Production.
In July 2004, John Smith took the helm at
BBC Worldwide becoming
CEO.
After taking over as CEO, Smith doubled
BBC Worldwide's turnover and quadrupled its profits. He geographically diversified the business so that it had a more international focus. Under Smith BBC Worldwide was the largest TV distributor outside of US companies and became Europe's largest TV channel operator with over 360m subscribers to its BBC-branded portfolio of channels. Under Smith, BBC Worldwide created new relationships with UK independent TV producers and set up an international production business producing TV format hits such as
Dancing with the Stars and
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
. In 2007, BBC Worldwide launched the commercial international website - bbc.com - which came into profit one year ahead of schedule and now has three international edition attracting 60 million unique users. The business has developed apps around its brands which have resulted in 25 million downloads and has attracted 23 million fans to its social media sites. Smith also launched the BBC's commercial
Global iPlayer in many countries around the world, as well and the opening of the
Doctor Who Experience
Since the first broadcast of the British science-fiction television serial '' Doctor Who'' in 1963, there have been a number of exhibitions of props, costumes and sets relating to the show throughout the United Kingdom. Some have been intend ...
, an interactive visitor attraction in London and live events ranging from Teletubbies to Strictly Come Dancing.
In 2009, BBC Worldwide's achievements were recognised with a
Queen's Award for Exports.
Smith has been a Director of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the
Henley Festival
The Henley Festival of Music and the Arts is held, at Henley on Thames, each July, on the Berkshire bank of the River Thames, at the same spot and using adapted facilities from the Henley Royal Regatta, which is held the week before.
The main s ...
, the advisory board of the English National Opera (ENO) and vice-president of the
Royal Television Society. He was also non-executive director at Burberry and a Fellow of both the
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the
Royal Society of Arts (RSA). Other directorships have included
Severn Trent
Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales.
It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...
PLC, Vickers PLC, Travelport International, Hilding Anders AB, and Superdry PLC.
Smith won the Accountancy Age Financial Director of the Year Award in 2001. He was a member of the Accounting Standards Board for three years between 2001 and November 2004, the HM Treasury Public Services Productivity Panel, and a non-executive director of
Severn Trent
Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales.
It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...
plc and Vickers PLC. John was a Council Member between 1996 and 1999. In 2004, he received an honorary Fellowship from the
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
Receives Honorary Fellowship from RIBA in May 2004
/ref> (in the same year as John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...
).
He is currently Chairman of Jungle Creations Ltd, Seeker Music Publishing.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John
1957 births
Living people
Harvard Business School alumni
People from Derby
British chief executives