Get out a magnifying glass and look in this small C4 corner. The channel is facing unwarranted and unwanted privatisation. Its outgoing chairman, Terry Burns, fought a staunch fight, but HMG declined to extend his tenure. So here comes a replacement, Charles Gurassa, deputy chairman of easyJet, among many other things. The C4 board is hardly in a position to complain, but what talents does Gurassa, a former director of leisure services at BA and veteran of travel trading, bring to the wobbly table?
Huge experience? Almost obscenely commodious experience, in fact. Since 2003, when he gave up wage slavery, Gurassa has served as chairman, director or (mostly) non-executive director of 27 enterprises large and small. He’s a serial boardroom junkie with no TV experience apart from watching Richard Branson sell Virgin Mobile to NTL and presiding when LoveFilm went to Amazon.
In short, he’s jolly adept at selling things. Put forward by Ofcom, embraced by Downing Street, replacing a late convert to the Awkward Squad. And maybe soon David Cameron will follow just this precedent for picking a new BBC chairman. Heaven bless the ideals of independent public service. Doubly so if Mr G manages to espouse them. But hold on tight to rather more than your breath.
