This is the text of a BBC Press Release:

BBC appoints Executive Board
Category: BBC
Date: 14.12.2006

The BBC has appointed four non-executive directors to the BBC's new Executive Board.

David Robbie, Group Finance Director, Rexam plc; Robert Webb QC, General Counsel at British Airways; Dr Mike Lynch OBE, co-founder and Chief Executive of Autonomy Corporation plc and Dr Samir Shah OBE, Chief Executive of Juniper Communications, an independent production company, will take up their new appointments on 1 January 2007.

The appointment of Marcus Agius, Chairman-designate of Barclays PLC, as Senior Independent Director was announced last month.

One further non-executive director is expected to be appointed early next year.

Announcing the appointments, Mark Thompson, BBC Director-General, said: "This is an important moment in a new system of running the BBC under the new Charter and Agreement.

"I am delighted to have attracted four further outstanding individuals to join Marcus Agius in a non-executive capacity on our new Executive Board.

"Together, they bring an exceptional range of skills, experience and perspectives which I believe will be crucial in our decision-making process as we seek to deliver a very challenging agenda in the years ahead."

Their appointments follow changes to BBC governance set out in the BBC's new Charter and Agreement.

The BBC Trust will replace the BBC Board of Governors on 1 January 2007, and appointments to the BBC Trust were announced in October by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

A new Executive Board will for the first time include non-executive directors who make up a "significant minority" of the board.

The Executive Board will oversee the effective delivery of the BBC's objectives and obligations within the framework set by the new BBC Trust.

Appointments to the Executive Board are made in accordance with procedures laid down in the Charter and Agreement and, in the case of non-executive directors and the Director-General, are subject to the approval of the BBC Trust.

The appointment of eight executive directors to the Executive Board has also been formally approved.

Jenny Abramsky, Director, BBC Audio and Music; Jana Bennett, Director, BBC Vision; Tim Davie, Director, Marketing, Communications and Audiences; Ashley Highfield, Director, Future Media and Technology; Stephen Kelly, Director, BBC People; Zarin Patel, Group Finance Director; John Smith, Chief Executive, BBC Worldwide and Caroline Thomson, Chief Operating Officer are appointed with immediate effect.

The appointments of Mark Thompson (who will chair the Board) and Mark Byford were confirmed last month.

David Robbie said: "The BBC is one of the world's best known and most important cultural institutions. I look forward very much to making a contribution as it faces the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."

Robert Webb said: "This is a new way of organising and of running the BBC. It will be our job to make it successful, and we will."

Dr Mike Lynch said: "I am very pleased to be part of the BBC, an organisation of talented people with a forward looking vision, which has become so valued a part of British life."

Dr Samir Shah said: "I am delighted to be involved in helping guide the BBC through these exciting and challenging times."

Marcus Agius said: "I greatly relish the prospect of working with the new non-executive directors announced today.

"Together with the BBC's executive directors, and under Mark Thompson's chairmanship, we will seek to manage the Corporation in a way which will delight Licence Fee payers."

BBC Notes

Biographies

David Robbie, who will chair the Board's Audit Committee, was educated at St Andrews and began his career at KPMG as a manager in London and New York.

He was Head of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations then Vice-President, Finance at Invensys plc before becoming Group Finance Director at CMG plc (now Logica CMG plc).

He became Chief Financial Officer at Royal P&O Nedlloyd N.V. in 2004 before joining Rexam plc as Group Finance Director in 2005.

He is a trustee of the Almeida Theatre.

Robert Webb QC, who will chair the Board's Fair Trading Committee, read law at Exeter University and was called to the Bar in 1971 and appointed QC in 1988.

He was Head of Chambers, 5 Bell Yard, between 1988 and 1998 and a Recorder of the Crown Court from 1993 to 1998.

He joined British Airways plc in 1998 as General Counsel, where, in addition to legal and regulatory affairs, he is responsible for government and industry affairs, safety, security, risk management and the environment.

He is a non-executive director of the London Stock Exchange and of Hakluyt & Co Ltd and a Board Member of London First.

Dr Mike Lynch OBE studied Engineering at Cambridge University and obtained a PhD in mathematical computing.

He is a technology entrepreneur and has founded a number of technology companies including the software company Autonomy plc where he currently serves as CEO.

He has held a number of advisory and board roles in the venture capital industry and is currently a non-executive director of Isabel Healthcare.

He was named the Confederation of British Industry's Entrepreneur of the Year, won an IEE Award for Outstanding Achievement and was awarded an OBE for Services to Enterprise.

He is also a Lady Margaret Beaufort Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge.

Dr Samir Shah OBE is Chief Executive of the independent production company Juniper Communications and a former Head of Political Programmes and Head of Current Affairs at the BBC.

He worked in the Home Office Research Intelligence Unit after graduating from Hull and Oxford Universities, before joining London Weekend Television in 1979 as a researcher, rising to become Editor of a range of current affairs programmes.

He joined the BBC in 1987 as Head of Current Affairs, moved to head up political programmes in 1994, before leaving to join the independent sector in 1998.

He is Chair of the Runnymede Trust and a trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum and of the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture.

He holds a Special Professorship in the Department of Post-Conflict Studies at the University of Nottingham.