Sir Robert Weston Phillis (3 December 1945 – 22 December 2009) was a British media executive with experience both in broadcasting organisations and the press.

Early life

He was educated at John Ruskin Grammar School in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

, where he was born, and in 1968 gained a first in Industrial Economics from

Nottingham University The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

, briefly lecturing at the institution. Before university Phillis had been an apprentice printer, and returned to the industry as an executive working for Thomson Regional Newspapers and the

British Printing Corporation Maxwell Communication Corporation plc was a leading British media business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It collapsed in 1991 following the death of its titular owner. History The comp ...

, but briefly returned to an academic career as a lecturer in industrial relations at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

and the Scottish Business School (1971–75).

Career

After a period from 1979 at Independent Television Publications, responsible for ''

TVTimes ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, whic ...

'', he became managing director of Central Television in 1981, moving to

Carlton Communications Carlton was a British media company. It was led by Michael P. Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it was bought by Granada plc in a corporate takeover to form ITV plc. Carlton shareholders gained ...

in 1987 and ITN in 1991. He was the deputy director general of the BBC from 1993, under

John Birt John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC. After a successful career in commercial television, initially at Granada Television an ...

being responsible for the

World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

(1993–94) and

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadca ...

(1994–97), Birt described Phillis as having been "invaluable and supportive" when Phillis left the corporation. The chief executive of the

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...

from 1997 to 2006, he oversaw the absorption of Trader Media, publisher of '' Auto Trader'' magazine. In 2004,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

asked him to head a committee looking into the effectiveness of government communications, though his recommendations "were set aside or watered down".

Personal life

Bob Phillis, knighted in 2004, was married with three sons. He died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillis, Bob 1945 births 2009 deaths Alumni of the University of Nottingham Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Mass media in the East Midlands British media executives People educated at John Ruskin Grammar School 20th-century British businesspeople