British Broadcasting Corporation

29 July 2004

The Queen has approved the appointment of Anthony Salz as Vice Chairman of the BBC. The appointment will be for a period of four years from 1 August 2004.

The Queen has also approved the appointment of Richard Tait as Governor of the BBC for a period of four years from 1 August 2004 and the re-appointment of Dermot Gleeson for a period of four years beginning on 1 November 2004.

Notes for Editors

1. The appointment of Anthony Salz will be made in succession to Lord Ryder of Wensum who resigned on 30 June 2004. The appointment of Richard Tait will be made in succession to Baroness Hogg, whose period of appointment expired on 8 February 2004.

2. These posts are part time. The post of Vice Chair attracts a salary of £28,060 per annum for two days per week and the post of Governor attracts a salary of £15,960 for one and a half days a week.

3. Anthony Salz is currently the co-senior partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. He has been a solicitor since 1974 and joined Freshfields in 1975. In his time there he has been head of its corporate department (1994-1996) and head of its corporate finance practice (1990-1994). His work has included projects in the broadcasting sector such as the merger of BSB with Sky. He was the first chairman of the Tate Gallery's Corporate Advisory Group (1997-2002) and is a Trustee of the Tate Foundation. He is also a Trustee of the Eden Project and a member of the Business in the Community's Business Action on Homelessness Executive Forum.

4. Richard Tait is currently Professor of Journalism and Director of the Centre for Journalism Studies at Cardiff University. His career before this was divided almost equally between the BBC and ITN. Most recently he was at ITN as Editor-in-Chief (1995-2002), overseeing the launch of its 24hour news channel and the renewal of long-term contracts with Channel 4 and ITV. He was also editor of 'Channel Four News' (1987-1995). For the 13 years before this he worked for BBC Television where his most notable credits were as editor of 'Newsnight' (1985-1987) and 'The Money Programme' (1983-1985). He is Vice-Chairman and UK Board Member of the International Press Institute, and Patron and Fellow of the Society of Editors.

5.Dermot Gleeson was appointed to the Board of Governors of the BBC in 2000. He was EEC representative to Brussels for Midland Bank for 1979 to 1981 and joined M J Gleeson Group PLC as Deputy Managing Director in 1982 becoming Chief Executive in 1988 and Executive Chairman in 1998.

6. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments Code of Practice. All three appointees hold no other public appointments.

7. All public appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity to be made public. None of these candidates have declared any political activities in the last five years.