New PBL Media boss dubbed “Prince of Darkness”
Nine's parent company, PBL Media, has appointed UK businessman Tim Parker as its new chairman. Known for laying off workers to cut costs, unions dubbed him "The Prince of Darkness."
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
PBL Media, the parent company of the Nine Network, has appointed a new chairman, UK businessman Tim Parker, replacing Adrian MacKenzie who has been in the role since February 2007.
Parker is a former CEO of Clark Shoes, Kenwood Appliances and was briefly an (unpaid) deputy mayor to London’s Boris Johnson.
The millionaire mogul and father of four made news in the UK for his track record of laying off workers to cut costs.
He is credited with slashing 3,500 jobs from the Automobile Association, closing its service centres and farming out nighttime emergency calls to contract garages. UK unions dubbed him “The Prince of Darkness.”
While he is credited with turning around AA and Kwik Fit, his critics accuse him of walking away with £80million after ‘butchering’ the AA. He is known for rapid change.
“This money was made on the back of sacking 3,500 people, cutting wages and call centre staff and lengthening the working day,” said Paul Maloney, national officer of the GMB union.
Meanwhile, MacKenzie, of CVC Asia Pacific Partners, remains on the board of PBL, along with Maarten Ruijs of CVC, James Packer and John Alexander of Consolidated Media Holdings, and Ian Law and Pat O’Sullivan of PBL Media.
PBL Media is a joint venture between Consolidated Media Holdings and CVC Asia Pacific. Its assets include the Nine Network, NBN Newcastle, Ticketek, Acer Arena, ACP Magazines, and stakes in Sky News Australia, Ninemsn carsales.com.au and myhome.com.au.
Last week ACP magazine chief Scott Lorson was dumped as part of a management restructure. His role is not being replaced.
Parker is based in London.
Press Release:
Leading UK businessman, Tim Parker, has been appointed Chairman of PBL Media.
Mr Parker replaces CVC Asia Pacific Partner, Adrian MacKenzie, who has been Chairman of PBL Media which was formed in February 2007.
Mr Parker has been on the board of PBL Media since earlier this year.
The Board of PBL Media will consist of Mr Parker (Chairman), Adrian MacKenzie and Maarten Ruijs of CVC, James Packer and John Alexander of Consolidated Media Holdings, and Ian Law and Pat O’Sullivan of PBL Media.
Mr Parker said his appointment as Chairman was in keeping with normal practice for the private equity firm CVC of having an independent Chairman of each of its investment companies.
Mr Parker, who is based in London, said he looked forward to making a contribution to PBL Media. “It is a dynamic business with a proven management team. We are committed to making a success of the investment which is performing well in a difficult economic environment.”
Mr Parker has had extensive business experience in the UK, having been successively CEO of the AA and of Kwik-Fit, both CVC Capital Partners portfolio companies.
Mr Parker has served as a non-executive director of Compass Group plc, Alliance Boots plc, Legal & General Group plc, and CDC Group plc. Former roles include Chief Executive of Clarks, the shoe company and Kenwood Appliances plc.
Mr Parker has been Chairman of the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, and a Board Member of the Audit Commission. He holds an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford, and an MSc. in Business Studies from the London Business School.
Source: PBL, Daily Mail
7 Responses
Tony, I don’t have a problem with centralised playout (but if a playout switch is co-ordinated with Brisbane Extra/GC News getting axed, then there will be trouble for QTQ).
Brisbane’s other problem is, that the three Brisbane commercial stations are based on Mt Coot-tha, which is state forest. A friend told me this earlier this year, back when 7 & 10 centralised their playout, Ten Brisbane had plans to move into Fortitude Valley (the heart of Brisbane’s music scene) a few years back, but were abandoned due to the fact that the existing site on Mt Coot-tha could not be sold due to the state forest that surrounds the transmitters.
Basicly the land the stations sit on is worthless, and all PBL/Seven/Canwest would get if the Brisbane stations were sold, is the money for the licence (which thankfully, has access to the Gold Coast via UHF.)
Someone tell that guy to get a haircut.
By the looks of that picture, he gets his fashion tips from Donald Trump as well, as well as his catchphrase.
Good for him if he can help PBL Media strip Nine back further, it needs it.
Whats wrong with centralised playout? It makes sense.
The days of Qintex are long gone, you won’t even notice a change.
FYI: Seven does all of their playout from Docklands in Melbourne.
I suppose we are not far from a sequel to the book ‘Who killed channel 9?’
I would say that this person is going to end up making a enemy out of the population of a certain “big country town” when he gets his hands on the network budget… If he tries to send Brisbane’s playout down south and cutting Queensland programming, he is going to face a angry Brisbane population, just like…Fairfax and HSV in Melbourne during 1987.
Wow… he sure sounds like a fun man to work for.
I’m sure there’ll be many more interesting cut backs at Nine, leading to more drops in the quality of its news and current affairs.