BBC headhunt underway

Search is on for the new bosses

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has appointed a headhunter, reported to be Odgers, Ray and Berndtson, to encourage suitable candidates to apply for the vacant roles of BBC chairman and director general.

The resignations of chairman Gavyn Davies and director general Greg Dyke, following scathing criticism of the BBC in the Hutton report, have left a vacuum at the top of the world’s most famous broadcaster.

Mike Sheard, chairman of headhunters MGM International, has suggested Chris Patten, former European Commissioner and culture and media minister, or Eddie George, the former head of the Bank of England, could replace Davies. He said: “It is important to have a chairman who was linked to politics but is no longer politically active.”

The chairman is then likely to appoint a headhunter, possibly Heidrick and Struggles, to draw up a shortlist of suitable candidates for the director general post.

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