BBC to hand Buffini powerful commercial role as it battles funding crisis

One of Britain’s top financiers is to be handed a powerful new role by the BBC in an attempt to grow its commercial revenues amid the threat of a real-terms cut to its funding.

Sky News has learnt that Sir Damon Buffini, who co-founded the private equity firm Permira, is being lined up to become chairman of the Corporation’s commercial arm.

Sir Damon, who began a three-year term on the main BBC board earlier this month, is expected to take on the dual role in April.

The move has emerged in the same week that the government announced that the television licence fee would be frozen at £159 for two years, prompting the BBC’s director-general to warn that it would be forced into “tougher choices which will impact licence fee-payers”.

Tim Davie and Richard Sharp, the BBC chairman, said in a joint statement that the licence fee decision was “disappointing not just for licence fee payers, but also for the cultural industries who rely on the BBC for the important work they do across the UK”.

Mr Sharp, who took up his post last year, also spent his career in finance, having been a senior Goldman Sachs banker.

The BBC was plunged into a fresh political row this week when Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, said the current licence fee settlement, which runs until 2027, would be the last.

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Ms Dorries’ statement implied that an alternative funding model would need to be established prior to that date – a pronouncement that came as a shock to Mr Sharp and his colleagues.

On Wednesday, it was reported that a Cabinet backlash led by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, against Ms Dorries’ assertion had taken place this week.

Critics of Boris Johnson’s administration have accused it of attempting to use a series of policy announcements, including those relating to the BBC, to deflect attention from the personal crisis in which he is embroiled.

Sir Damon’s appointment as chair of the BBC’s commercial board is said to have been under discussion for some weeks.

Industry sources said it underlined the Corporation’s determination to explore ways to bolster its revenue base during an era dominated by streaming services such as Netflix.

Sources said that as part of the move, the board of BBC Commercial Holdings would be moved to BBC Studios, which oversees the bulk of its commercial activities.

The commercial holdings board is currently chaired by Dame Elan Cross Stephens, an academic.

Sir Damon, who has been a non-executive director of Schroders, the fund manager, also chairs the government’s £2bn COVID culture recovery fund, and the Royal National Theatre.

As a co-founder of Permira, he oversaw its rise to become one of Europe’s biggest buyout firms, taking control of companies such as the AA and Saga.

A BBC spokesman said on Wednesday: “There will be changes to the commercial governance arrangements from April and we will set them out shortly.”

The spokesman declined to comment on Sir Damon’s prospective appointment to chair the newly constituted board.

One BBC insider said that “doing as much as possible to grow commercial income is vital, and this move is an important statement of intent and ambition”.

Speaking in November when his appointment to the main BBC board was announced, Sir Damon said: “I am committed to the arts and the BBC’s role in supporting the creative industries.

“This is a compelling time to join the BBC board as the Corporation continues to deliver best value for licence fee payers at home, while building its commercial reputation here and around the world.”

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