Virgin Media owner Liberty Global has boosted its European communications team with the appointment of BBC World and Radio 2 presenter Rebecca Pike.
Liberty Global, which also holds a stake in ITV and jointly owns Skins and Midsomers Murders maker All3Media, has been on a drive to boost its PR operation after hiring ex-News UK communications chief Guto Harri in a top role late last year.
Pike, who joined the BBC from the Daily Telegraph in 1995, was part of the launch team of Chris Evans’s drivetime show on BBC Radio 2 in 2006 and has remained as a business presenter on the station under Simon Mayo.
She has also been an anchor on BBC World and a business presenter on the BBC News Channel.
Pike, who will be based in London and report to Harri, starts as Liberty Global’s head of digital media on 3 May.
Liberty Global has also hired Julia Hart, who worked in communications Dulux-owner AkzoNobel, as vice president of external communications based in Amsterdam.
“It’s a real privilege to build a team for a world class company, and I’m thrilled to recruit two excellent communicators to help us tell our tale,” said Harri. “Rebecca has experience, insight, contacts and an understanding of vast and diverse audiences – invaluable for a global company building the critical infrastructure of our age. Her gift for presenting complex issues in understandable and engaging form will be a huge asset.
“Julia Hart is a seasoned and imaginative PR professional with a great track record who will help bring alive the Liberty Global mission to invest, innovate and empower our customers around the world”.
