Rupert Gavin

In this role, he is responsible for the largest Cinema group in Europe - market leader in UK, Spain & Italy and also operating in Germany, Portugal and Austria, running 1700 screens in 200 cinema locations.

In the period since 2005, he has:

• Overseen the integration of the Odeon chain with the UCI chain, realising significant synergy benefits in a short period of time.
• Completed five further acquisitions in Spain, Italy and Germany – exceeding the target acquisition plan in every case. Overseen the integration of each of these businesses into the total group.
• Formed a 50/50 joint venture with Sky and launched a medium scale UK film distribution operation, in partnership with Sky.
• Formed a 50/50 joint venture with Cineworld: Digital Cinema Media. DCM has acquired key assets of Carlton Screen Advertising, forming the UK’s largest screen advertising company.
• Driven yield per average customer significantly through retail initiatives, through transformation of the cinema experience and the customer contact strategies in all territories.
• Established a significant pipeline of high quality new sites, to the very latest design.
• Pioneered the transformation of the industry to digital.
• Turned a declining profit trend for the business at time of acquisition to double-digit growth in profits.

Chief Executive of BBC Worldwide

From 1998-2005 Rupert was the Chief Executive of BBC Worldwide.  He was a member of the BBC’s Executive Committee, director of BBC Commercial Holdings and Chairman of UKTV (BBC Worldwide’s fast growing television joint venture with NTL).  He was responsible for all BBC’s commercial content operations, including TV distribution (Europe’s largest TV distributor), UK and global channels (the largest non-US TV channel operator), magazines (UK’s third largest magazine publisher), books, video, audio books (UK’s largest audio book publisher), offline interactive media, e-commerce portal, ISP, music business, merchandise and licensing business, live entertainment business, formats, library sales, educational publishing, call etc.  During this period the sales of the business doubled to £650m, profits more than trebled and the cashflow generation to the BBC increased from £50m per annum to £141m per annum.  In 2002, BBC Worldwide won the Queens’ Award for Excellence in the export category and won the UK Trade Partners Export Award.

Roles Within BT

From 1997-1998 He was BT's Managing Director of their Consumer Division.  As Managing Director, he was responsible for a business with revenue of £6bn pa, a profit of £1.5bn pa, and work force of 30,000.  This division included all BT’s activity in the UK consumer market, as well as the following businesses: Chargecard, Payphones, Cable, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Retail Stores, hardware products, fixed/mobile convergence development, as well as the Broadcast and Multimedia businesses.

During his time as MD, the division reversed its long-term decline in consumer lines, reversed its downward trend in volume growth rate, value for money perception and customer satisfaction.  It achieved a record rate of customer winbacks; it also achieved its record score in employee attitude and motivation.  It achieved a record growth in profits, reversing a long term decline and reversed all the key customer satisfaction trends.

For three years prior to that he worked for BT in the role of Director of Internet and Multimedia.  Rupert lead BT’s strategic initiative to help transform the company from a telecommunications company to an Internet and multimedia company.

He was responsible for creating the initial concept and then the formation of British Interactive Broadcasting (a joint venture between BT, BSkyB, Matsushita and HSBC), its initial design and business plan, and its clearance through the regulatory authorities.  He was director of BiB until his departure from BT.  BiB was established as a world first in interactivity to the TV, and as a vehicle for the successful mass deployment of digital satellite in the UK – Sky Digital.

Dixons Group Plc and Saatchi & Saatchi

From 1987 to 1994, Rupert was deputy Managing Director for Dixons Group Plc – Deputy Managing Director (1987 – 1994)  His task was to transform the commercial management of the UK business from its position in the late eighties, where it was non-profit making, losing market share, consisted of an inefficient fragmentation of businesses, and being subjected to hostile take-over attempts (Kingfisher).  This was achieved by 1994 with substantial growth in market share, achieving 5% net margin, a dominant position in new technology markets such as PCs, video games and software, a fully integrated business, with a successful acquisition programme.

For two years prior to this he was a director of Saatchi & Saatchi after they bought his advertising business in 1985

He served as director of Saatchi & Saatchi, within the Dorland agency, following the sale of his advertising business to the Saatchi’s.  During this period, Dorland grew to be the third largest agency within the UK.

Theatre Industry

Rupert has an active interest in the world and theatre and holds a range of positions in London’s theatre industry:

He is shareholder and director of the Ambassador Theatre Group, which is the largest theatre company in the UK, owning over 24 theatres in the West End and the regions (ranging from the Piccadilly Theatre and Savoy Theatre to the Richmond Theatre, Theatre Royal Brighton).  Ambassador Theatre Group is also the largest commercial producer of stage drama and comedy in the UK, with many award winning shows running in London, around the regions, and on Broadway.  Recent shows have included ‘Noises Off’ in London and Broadway, ‘Guys & Dolls’, ‘Porgy & Bess’, ‘The Jersey Boys’, ‘Boeing Boeing’, Matthew Bourne’s ‘Nutcracker!’, Harold Pinter’s ‘No Man’s Land’, and the 50th anniversary revival of ‘West Side Story’

He is also chairman, and main shareholder of the West End production company, Incidental Colman, and as producer, his productions have won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment three times and the Olivier award for Best New Play in 2003. Incidental Colman operates as co-producer with ATG on many shows, including all those listed in the paragraph above.

He is also a primary investor behind IC’s sister company, Dan Colman Ltd., which is one of UK’s leading specialists in arena and large scale family shows, such as the ‘Bob the Builder’ arena show, the ‘Milkshake’ tour, the ‘Brainiac’ science show tour, and recently ‘My First Carol Concert’.

Other Activites and Interests

His industry work includes being fellow of the Royal Television Society.  He was treasurer of the Contemporary Art Society from 1990–1996.  He was a Governor of National Film and Television School from 1996-2001.  He was a director of Arts & Business.  He delivered the RTS’ Fleming Lecture in 2001 – entitled the Eureka State – which was subsequently published.

He is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.

He is an active songwriter, with several very minor chart successes to his name over the years, and with a new album of his work scheduled for release in 2009. He also co-wrote the musical, ‘A Model Girl’, based on the Profumo Affair that was performed at The Greenwich Theatre in 2007, which Charles Spencer hailed in the Daily Telegraph as ‘a new British musical by a pair of unknowns that combines real achievement with even greater promise’.

For further information or to book Rupert Gavin, call us on +44 (0) 20 8365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk