Sir Ian Cheshire formerly was head of Kingfisher and chair of Channel 4 until last year: he has worked in the public sector, telecoms, e-commerce and banking
The UK government has named City veteran Sir Ian Cheshire to chair the media and telecoms regulator Ofcom. His appointment must be formally approved by a Parliamentary hearing and assuming that goes smoothly, he will serve a four-year term, replacing the current chair, Michael Grade, who also chairs the BBC’s board.
Grade will stand down from Ofcom at end of this month. He was paid £120,000 a year for a three-day week, according to the regulator.
Cheshire formerly led Kingfisher, which operates in seven countries across Europe under retail banners including B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, Screwfix, TradePoint and Koçtaşand. Until last year he was the chair of Channel 4, the publicly owned British free-to-air public broadcast TV channel
Ofcom is facing a number of serious challenges, with its responsibilities ranging from overseeing public service broadcasting and impartial news broadcasting, the obligation to provide a universal postal service and the provision of telecoms services.
Social media challenges
Perhaps the most serious and certainly the most emotive is the explosive growth of online content – some of which is highly controversial and widely seen as damaging to children and young people in particular.
The regulator is responsible for overseeing the application of the Online Safety Act of 2023 which regulates all social media accessible in the UK. Ofcom has been severely criticised by some for being slow to enforce the Act which is designed to force social media platforms to protect people, especially children, from content that incite hatred or encourage suicide, self-harm or eating disorders.
Cheshire said in a statement that in his career, which has covered across his career e-commerce, telecoms and broadcasting, he had “seen first-hand how much effective regulation matters – for consumers, for businesses and for the wider economy”.
He chairs the FTSE 100 property group Landsec and the private hospital operator Spire Healthcare. Previously he served on the boards of Barclays bank and the retailer Debenhams and held various position in the public sector, including as a non-executive director of the Cabinet Office.
Apparently the Labour MP and life peer Margaret Hodge and the former Conservative cabinet minister Jeremy Wright were also shortlisted for the job.
