This is taken from the Sunday Telegraph:

BBC chief 'has conflict of interest'
By Chris Hastings, Arts Correspondent
(Filed: 13/11/2005)

Michael Grade, the chairman of the BBC, faced allegations of a conflict of interest last night over the corporation's multi-million pound dealings with Britain's biggest film studios.

Figures released by the BBC show that it paid Pinewood Shepperton studios, headed by Mr Grade, £2.5 million during the financial year following his appointment as chairman in April 2004 - an increase of £1.1 million on the previous year.

Mr Grade is the non-executive chairman of the studios, where hit BBC shows such as My Family, The Weakest Link, Extras and Waking the Dead are filmed. He also holds 620,000 shares in the business, currently worth £1,047,800.

The disclosure that the BBC had increased the value of its business with the company led to renewed calls for Mr Grade to sever links.

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat culture spokesman, urged Mr Grade to reconsider his position as the head of the private studios.

"I am not against a chairman of the BBC having outside links but I am worried that his links with Pinewood Shepperton give the appearance of a conflict. On the face of it I think it is getting a bit too close for comfort."

A spokesman for the BBC insisted last night that Mr Grade did not have any control over which programmes were filmed at the studios.

She said the figures quoted by the Sunday Telegraph, while accurate, did not give the whole picture. She said the BBC had been spending an average of £2.2 million a year with the studio since 2002.

She said: "The chairman of the BBC, whoever is in post, and the board of governors have no involvement in discussions about individual programme productions.

"Since Michael Grade's arrival processes have been put in place specifically to monitor transactions between the BBC and Pinewood."