Roger Flynn

Until 2004 Roger Flynn was Chief Executive of BBC Ventures Ltd, one of the BBC's two Commercial Groups and a member of the BBC's Executive Committee, reporting directly to the Director General, Greg Dyke. He joined the BBC during one of the most eventful times in BBC history; the Hutton affair, the culture change that made them cry when Greg left, the launch of Freeview, the battles with Sky, the rejuvenation of BBC1. While there Roger transformed the capabilities from Public Service back office to commercial businesses, grew revenues rapidly, dramatically changed the customer relationship, innovated product offerings and drove the successful £0.5bn sale of BBC Technology.

Prior to that Roger was Managing Director of Prudential Retail, a subsidiary of Prudential plc. He was responsible for the UK retail business including the Prudential brand, with a sales turnover of £2bn, 6m customers and 6,000 staff. He created and implemented a strategy to transform the economics, culture and infrastructure.of the company.

Before joining Prudential, Roger was General Manager World Sales & Distribution at British Airways. He developed British Airways first website and created an award winning e-commerce capability selling in 72 countries, integrated with telephone sales. He was responsible for sales strategy, sales effectiveness and all distribution functions, generating revenues of £6bn.

Roger is currently President International of SDI Media Group, a global company providing media services to the major players in the Film and Television Industry. SDI is Private Equity backed by Elevation Partners, a US based firm that includes Bono, the lead singer of U2 as a Managing Director and Co-Founder. Elevation makes large-scale investments in market-leading media, entertainment, and consumer related businesses. He is Chairman of StageWon Ltd, a social network, Travel Match Ltd an on-line holiday company and Closer2 Alternative Energy Ltd, a renewable energy exhibition business.

Roger has proven management skills at the highest level and has worked directly for Sir Richard Branson and Greg Dyke, two of the most respected business leaders in the UK. He can speak with authority on the following topics:-

Building strong teams and leading cultural change. Roger recruited very capable senior people into the BBC businesses and, with Greg Dyke, was a key player in the company-wide change programme. He galvanised the Prudential team around a common goal and led a cultural change programme.

Creating a customer-focused culture. He focused the businesses on the customer at the BBC and drove a customer-focused culture at Prudential.

Challenging existing business models and implementing new strategies. Roger implemented new economic and cultural model in Prudential. He challenged and changed the commission structures in the airline industry while at British Airways and he launched a number of businesses at Virgin that challenged the existing market leaders.