Read this: Media Masters - Jeremy Darroch

Media Masters with Paul Blanchard

welcome to media Masters a series of one-to-one interviews with people at the top of the media game down here at the headquarters of Sky UK and John by the group chief executive Jeremy darroch of the last 25 years has held senior positions across a range of consumer focused businesses including Procter and Gamble and Dixons he joins sky as chief financial officer in 2004 and took on his current role in 2007 with almost 23 million subscribers Sky is now Europe's biggest Entertainment Business Jeremy's recently other seen a massive expansion which now reaches an audience of over 120 million consumers globally he was the driving Force behind Skies bigger picture initiatives including the development of the Team Sky cycling team and he is also a non-executive director of Burberry share of business in the community and an ambassador for WWF Jeremy thank you for joining me.

Thank you.

So show me when Ellon to contest ownership of Sky at aflac dramatic bidding war but it looks like it's business as usual from the outside it is that right.

Very much, so it's been a really think we got off to a really good start the first saw six months.

I think it's really about getting to know each other we knew, cast some water before before the deal closed on a huge mountain not the level of depth of them all in the business, so we spent a lot of time getting to know a new colleagues.

I spent time over here.

We've been a coursing in the US and then there's just a lot of us or procedural stuff.

You need to go through we've got that got that through now, so now I think we really restarted at the start of 2019 we could really get stuck into the plan business is doing well, so it obviously focused on the day job making sure that.

That continues, but I think more importantly is then what can we do together at to build an even more successful business, so what is the plan then? What is that new chapter Aida how do we take the platform of all the companies and then and then deliver greater growth in the future, so we have something like 50 million of the world's best if you like almost by.

Weeble customer relationships across the major top markets in the world so that the platform if you like the combined businesses got it is really really interesting and I think give her a really important starting point to say how do we do more without Hough Green grow and then of course I do we go further your interview markets over time to do new things that will certainly be investing more in contender originated content sky I will be seeking to bring more of our current development pipelines together and do more things across the globe quicker.

I think in the Greater scale, so did the big ideas.

I just started to emotional Skies long been associated with Rupert Murdoch what was your conversation like with him when there when you only that fox had to about a comcast takeover.

Are you allowed to let us into the Galaxy phone repair for many many years and has been an incredible supporter of Sky only wanted to see us go on and on and be more successful.

How do better and bigger things I think he's very very proud of as he should be of the footprint that he's he's left at Sky in.

What are you were so fundamental to creating so it was you know he was disappointed of course that the the Fox Disney are bidding prevail.

We talked a lot about you what the Business of becoming and I know my back a little to the old days when he set out on this journey and Injustice incredible Journey over 30 years.

It was the business it almost took him personally to the wall so we reflect on some of that.

I just told me she'd feel incredibly proud of what the business has been think I think he is so it was so it was there it was a little bit nostalgic reflective things on his part with some sadness, but I think more than anything you know he just wants to see the business be more successful in the course whether he owns Somerville does no one any of it we all just want to see Sky Go from strength to strength and it's been quite a journey for yourself as well over a decade and did you not feel it might have any time to move on? What made you decide to stay?

The best years of this business or out of it and so I think the future looks you know very bright if we can keep Holding true to the things that have got it yet.

So there's a lot of big opportunities immediately Adam as we've got good growth in all about markets.

We're going to be entering some major new card with his we just getting going for example in the mobile telephony count agree here in the UK we're going to be launching their fibre to the home a big broadband business in Italy and we got grey grout out of us and Germany we want to do more as I said on screen and invest more in sky Originals they're really starting to scale now very well, so most of them are great great again.

It's an entry to us a fascinating Walden you know I'm talking it for the work in the business.

That's really what what what motivates me and then also it's for you know it's important to me that the business transitions well.

You know I don't hate the seaside sky stumble so I want to make sure that everybody looked after properly and I can do my bit to ensure that this business keeps coming forward and pay TV

Seems to be an increasingly crowded market leader with the Threat from streaming offers opportunity might want to, in terms of Disney Amazon Netflix and so on it, but there's a lot of consumer choice now very much rather talk fundamentally that is because the markets are alright and the pay-tv market in Europe or all typically underpenetrated.

So they've all got Headroom to grow into an that's quite unusual in a lot of markets in Europe Europe generally is struggling for economic growth and many other markets that we see a pretty much fully penetrated so if you gonna grow in those markets.

You've got it.

You've got to get him off at sure you got to take business away from somebody else the pay-tv market isn't really characterize that way so there are many these new services that was saying that it's Netflix or Amazon Google or a product like NOW TV our own streaming service what this is doing is unlocking you pockets of Demand so I think the market will be competitive component competition is changing will continue to change but fundamentally these are markets with.

Got hedrin to grow into and so we should expect many people to say you know I'd like to be part of that.

Yes, because I mean at home.

I have a Sky dish.

So you've got the Monopoly of the supplier in my satellite TV but I subscribe to lots of different streaming service is I don't see it is something that I should just have one I do not have Netflix I have Sky have Amazon Prime like you said there's an abundance in the marketplace correct and you know if you think of your sky service will use that satellite dish Brodie Fry Live Television because it's just a very efficient way to do that but I run streaming services will plug in the back of your box and will be delivering many of us guys contact you on demand.

See you already be consuming a huge amount of your content through your Sky service that through streaming platform the partners well with the the traditional satellite satellite service build out of fibre networks.

We we still digital technologies continue to accelerate.

It's never been easier now to get to cut.

Musk attar provide a service to customers so I think we'll see people have more services and there'll be able to mix match according to their needs and speaking as a consumer.

I was delighted when my SkyBox said that I can now watch Netflix on my Sky Q box is that something that you going to be growing out as well my Amazon Prime movies and TV and content be available on there soon as they will do more of that overtime.

You know if you one of the great things with your Sky customer new go and do the see your Sky Q box you alright you can get Netflix today.

You can get YouTube that you can get a Spotify I'm you can get all of the catch up services from Lakeside BBC iTV Channel 4 Channel 5 and 6 very easy for you to watch all of your content you know from one place and then the second thing is it makes it easy to navigate around that content one of the things will be here a lot from customers is that every time they have to switch supplier switch input there in a very different paradigm and so it's quite complicated sometimes to find them.

Around all this content is available we can simplify that for customers and just make it easy for them to get to the content, they want and that means we'll park writing over time with more and more people the two potential frenemies that spring to mind with me would be a Disney and apple server example Netflix it does seem like a really good synergycrs.

They're producing content for you and they're available across lots of platforms Apple own their own platform day on my phone my iPad my laptop and Disney have such a huge unique Innocence strength of their own content that you know that might prove a difficult partnership because there's there behemoths in their own right.

I think we'll see and whether it's worth Disney or Apple with others will be times when we compete against people and then we'll be times that we work with people and that's always really been the case in in our history and development of said the same thing in Hindi could stay still say the same thing with the likes of the BBC or iTV at one level were competing for eyeballs for viewers with them at the other the other level we want to work with them close.

If you think of something like the iPlayer within how they we promote their content at our relationship's will.it.be would be very similar in a more sophisticated.

It's wrong to think of it at the extremely away.

They will compete against people all be over work with people you know we'll do that happened in the TV landscape.

Just seems to be changing and evolving even now.

He was your main line of duty was the last thing that actually watch when it was on as broadcast because I couldn't then go on Twitter without having seen it as I need to be spoilers, but almost everything else other than Sky News which I have on some 24/7 in the background watching television as it's broadcast he's not something that I've done 4 years Levellers that's always been the case.

I mean iPhone reflect when I join Sky back in 2004 and think of the industry then and just take it forward to where it is today.

It's changed already enormous tease you say but I think that will that.

Will that will continue and general I think that's that's a good thing.

It means is a market that constantly innovating if you're a customer you can come to expect new things and better things nothing else.

That's a great thing to have but also makes it a more complicated and sometimes it makes it a little bit overwhelming for customers so alongside that there's certainly the need for certainty and predictability Sky News is a very good example of that unit remains the trusted source of impartial news particularly the big moments and we hear This Time and time again from from our peers who say you know who you are the trusted source when something's happening in the world.

I'll switch to Sky News because what Sky News does is a does the news and that's really what people value, so I think inevitably with a more technology with no change there are more shiny new things but there's also place for certainty and not losing sight that for many people in after hard.

Day's work, then.

Animated A10 switch on the TV and they want to easily get the something that they want to watch a massive global business and and the job of being the leader of that business must mean you've got her own and an abundance of things you could focus on here in any one week.

What do you actually do? What is a typical week for you? What does the the job of the chief executive of Sky actually do because everything you choose to focus on in that moment comes at the expense pretending.

It's something else.

I mean I have 30 people have a tiny business, but even I feel the burden time.

Would it must be like for you have no idea.

Please tell us all.

I seem further up the organisation is always important to remember that your job is to work on the things that you need to work on this part of the things that you might like to work on cos broadly you can work on whatever you would have you choose I would suspect but my week probably into a third of III of III benefit of that will be operational stuff.

Just just helping run the business help you my colleagues whether there in one of the

Markets in Europe in Austria or Switzerland or Italy or Germany or here in the UK just just run the business and why that's important is because Sky is a very big operational business.

You know we've got a huge footprint now.

So you can't let the missus get too far away from you need to be very tuned into it all the time and then using my experience really more than anything to dispose patterns to question with things parts and not right to be part of the Solutions were me when we're moving for daughter support and celebrate success.

He had a lot of my job.

Is this is to search for success in the business and then celebrated because that says we can do it here.

We can do it everywhere and I can be a very that can be a very stimulating motivating thing.

I think for people to hear likewise of strong not working.

You know it's to say we need to fix this somebody to do something about it a third of my time will be taken up in that in that area but my time would be very extremely focused and that you're really.

Using my position if you like to get out into the world and to explore to be curious to find out what's going on and I caught one of them have learnt predicting in our sector now that on the whole if I call somebody on the going to take my call and until I can you that's that's not for me personally that's that's my position so I need to use that for the business to explore and then to from what I find to bring that back to be in effect the ambassador of the Ambassador you know from the scout the person who's currently going across the Horizon to see what's going on in to bring that in to make sense of her and then took the third of our time is really spend on what I would describe as the house of the business so that how is really organisation people are brand.

So how we go about it and I think I've also also McCrea the broady the business just two things that's the what the sort of specific, but it's also the how we go about that and I spend them up earlier, but there's no time at all that could be everything from working very.

Should sort the organisation level policy can be on Training and Development or I could just simply Be coaching and mentoring somebody and helping them through parts of the difficult.

I'm off the starting a new role.

Just to you either be able to give me a bit of advice and steer them in the right direction as though as they getting better than you roll, so broadly that's that's that's that's what I want to do now underneath side because we're in everything from TV content creation all the way through to broadband engineering there's an enormous breath of opportunity and issue that that are you coming literary you can come in the morning and the start the morning on at Nova installing satellite dishes and home somewhere all the way through to creating the next drama series 4 Sky one tick.

Are you ever taken a friend's barbecue on idle summer's afternoon and someone comes up to you and challenges you but they're broadband installations been a couple of days late.

Do you ever get that kind of thing are you you're the boss?

Outside day, so yes, it's unfortunate not very often because actually are services.

So good then.

We we we weren't really really hard at that.

So so that is change vs.

If I couldn't if I cast My Mind back to say 2007.

I will get a lot more those questions and today.

They have largely disappeared.

We've been the leader in service provision in our markets that you know every quarter consecutive IV horrifying so that's good, but what I will get a lot of is a lot of views of Skye and what we do and I really like that because it you know it's kaiser business that everybody sort of who has it has an opinion on there.

Is there involving it that they'll will see the good will see that they eat in the not too good if they're not very happy about it and I'll talk about it.

So that says you're very helpful because he gives you this enormous echoback just from customers and you can take that and then much that with what you hearing from the business and hopefully those two things are the same but occasion he was a bit of a gap and that's why you need to sort a scratching.

Find out what's going on in terms of self-development.

How do you stay.

You're not on top of that your job as well as working in its you know you've got to hire the right people and set the right culture Saudi keep an eye open for you know hi-fis another organisation something sky such a technologically driven and platform as well.

Do you know do you often pop over to China on Hong Kong and goes like trade shows to see what the future of technology is because you've got to have an eye on weddings going to be 10 years from now.

Cos it might be an incredible opportunity for Skype or it could be a threat likely.

I'll be on the road in exploring what's going on elsewhere in the world.

You know listening to transmit.

What are the things? I do if I'm I'm a non-executive director of Burberry feet ache fashion luxury.

Fashion market generally than Asia and China and particular enormously important to those markets.

So you get a constant stream of thought and ideas that are coming from my which I can bring back into into Sky just just go out and using the network.

You know talking to people having time to do that quite.

Often if I'm if I'm travelling and I'll take a day particularly if pass if I'm in the city have not been into a for awhile or not been there before I just take a day at the end of that that trip and just look around you know you can hear you can looking at retail looking at what's actually going on in the High Street what's new what's different that you can see in the UK and I think you just just having that mindset it can be enormously productive actually so I'll tell you that and then if you've had a few travel halfway around the world for some business meetings.

Why when you take a day to spend a little bit of time to see what's going on in the sword Zeitgeist of Us market.

How important is returning premium sport in terms of the retention of the customer base and I have quite a unique view on televize spot intervals.

I consider it to be complete waste of time.

I've never watch the game of football on television in my life.

What I like.

There's a sky customer is I don't have to pay for Sky Sports and therefore it doesn't concern me but I magine a lot.

People have Sky primarily so that they can access the football so sports hospices a great business ring you could pick any of our markets in Europe and it's really fantastic.

I shouldn't I think the quality of what we produce the way that we innovate and and showcase sports an entirely different ways is in my view unsurpassed anywhere I am not and I'm sorry I'm not going to watch a football match.

It's we have to touch your body sites of The Sportsman is a great business, but it is you know it's only part of the business today when I join Sky almost all of our customers would take sport movies today as a percentage for example in the UK probably less than half with with with take that because we've grown in so many other areas so it's a it's a great part of our business at it's part of the heritage of Skye and and we love it, but it but it's only a proportion of the business now because we deliberately sought to get broader and you know what that into your point.

There's a lot of people in there.

In household to Los pobres lot of people who don't so we got to develop and have develop new services to convert those people to Sky and we can do that in a way that compliments everything we do with a sports business.

What what drives me and retains me the Sky customers is a lot of the content that you generate some example with you've had huge success of the TV baftas recently with Patrick Melrose for me.

It's a bit like going into a cafeteria.

Don't like everything on upset.

You know that's an offer I can pick and choose the things I want has to like the cafe overall.

Yes, completely you know and I think you know I can feel my own household.

You know what you want to support.

You know my son Matthew lots of what sport my daughter Emma you export my other daughter Juliette my wife Rach Rachel of a lesson so you know how do we find something for them and and and I think that's just a very normal situation of any household across across the country so investing in whether it's Patrick Melrose or other high quality dramas.

Whether it's investing from the great comedies we've got these are great ways that we can we can build next gen down business Sky Arts examples of very very good example of that and that's a channel that We Created a number of years ago.

We've invested significantly in not begin the overall scheme of Sky but but but but big baps in terms of Arts programming and what do we know we know well, there's a relatively small group of people who who want to watch a lot of the US there's a lot of people would like to watch some arts programming, but they tend to be very very passionate about that we can serve those customers brilliantly and they may that may well be that the reason that they getting Stacey's and stay with Sky and you know that that's just fine and the huge investment in movies that you've made them.

I never Sky customer often see that you've been made her a film and it's debuting in cinemas and on Sky in the same day mean that would have been unheard of 1520 is going all day.

Is it was at the cinema, then it was on DVD

Parental then you can buy it and then then it was on Sky in then it was on terrestrial TV now it seems it's all over the place.

You can't predict the journey that a move would make I've seen things debuting on Sky weather is still on at the cinema there a very much and I think we'll see more and more that I don't realise a reflection today of how people want to live their lives you know so the old world of perhaps.

We were willing to to wait either see a movie in cinema then for wait to wait till I went to the retail market then came into the pay-tv world these things are starting to break down now so for us if we can create go upstream and get movies here to our customers earlier parts at the same time.

Is it in cinema we going to just give people a better choice and they can say what I can go out to the cinema with my family.

That's a great experience or I can watch it at home as well.

So I think we'll see more of that.

I think we're going to see windowing which in the way that writes are sold.

I think I was asking to change quite dramatically over the next the next few years, but it's really driven by customers and

Was behaviours and what they want to see him when they want to get access to the content and who do you see as your competition in terms of you not competing for attention for eyeballs because it doesn't necessarily have to be other broadcasters when I've got the Sky app on my phone but I've also got Netflix but I've also got the times.

I've got Grand Theft Auto I've got other things that could pull me away from watching Sky content is that is is that the way that and it'll technology is changing the increase increasing rate of YouTube and and social media where there's lots of other things to pay attention to is that an opportunity or is that something that's coming out at a cost of me spending less time watching Sky a bit of the good news.

Is is that I think it's all very is bye-bye device by location by by day part if you look at the core viewing experience in the amount of time people want to consume video and TV actually that's being very robust that was seeing changes with less of that with both younger demographics younger people they are.

How do you get typically your bubble traditional viewing slab whilst I'm all the same bloody people's appetite to watch video is is is very very strong.

Love you go away from that and you think about out of home consumption on the one hand will more able to get a service light sky to customers outside the house that we've ever been able to before I was just looking at the weekend at some of the viewing figures for the end of the football season and a courses have been a season where it's gone right down to the last game an hour out of him home viewing Una grua enormously because people wanted to get access to the results YouTube clips and goals out when they're out and about so so that on the one hand is an opportunity for us to do more and to get Sky service to you.

Wherever you are Converse it though the rugby more people will computer that space as you say it might be you have a choice to read a book or listen to a book or listen to a streaming service Bawtry did the pay.

Or just a surf, you know other apps internet so I think we'll see a bit of both.

That's there, but that's the nature of a vibrant market the great thing is for us as we've never been more capable to get our content to our customers more easily Coke Easter I think you still used to talk about with in The Arms reach of desire was their goal in terms of getting coached two people and we're sort of a within the button click of desire today.

So if somebody wants to see Sky you know that you never want them more than one or two press of a button away from that we spoke about what a typical week is for you, but my next question is what's top of your to-do list at the moment like what you know one of the major few things that you wanted to take things to the next stage with Soham RX100 is is right up right up there and how we think about in a growing in our existing markets in launching two new categories and services but also potentially going further afield so.

Into new Territories entirely utilities and we're thinking of you know about that.

That's a was one part of the evolve of our future plan secondary and spend a lot of time.

I shouldn't originator content business.

We got a real ambitions to scale that over the next 34 years.

I think the work that we've done the teams done that has been really outstanding so far but we can take That Really to the next to max level spending a lot lot of time thinking about the future of technology and how people are going to consume their media and how they want to consume their major in the future and then building to our product pipelines.

Spend a lot of time on the broader areas of customer loyalty and service you.

I think you know right at the heart of a business-like Sky is the brand promise and the trust that customers putting our brand new from the strongest things about about sky know if you would do if you talk to a customer they believe that the services.

I'll get from Sky will be.

Reliable it work.

It'll be a very high quality, so I spend quite a lot of my time on that and then always a lot of time in the organisation lot of time.

You know the Frontline talking to people having a cup of coffee hearing what they doing and then a lot of time working developing people have a quite strong believe that organisations are both teaching and learning institutions and we need to be good at both.

We need to learn from the outside world from each other but also we need to we need to teach and coach and I think one of my jobs as as as the leader of the business is to make sure that a lot of my experience and knowledge passes down in through and if you like, I can help people coming through pipes.

Get to some of the realisations.

I got to a bit quicker than other just do it on themselves, so I spent quite a bit of time on that's for the benefit of you sharing mistakes that you've made in the past to help your team not make the same mistakes.

Do the coursework actually that's that's ok.

You know that's normal.

That's part of you know the sort of robust nature of of competition and what we do businesses are there to take risks of me if you think of the idea of business is used to it is to decrease the Creator return, but that doesn't mean being reckless it means taking risk in her you know in a controlled way knowing what you doing, but if but if you know we only relied on and getting it right you never do anything and you never do anything new you never take a chance for it and business buys.

Very nature is entrepreneurial exactly and then that's what it in a large pot of water should focus on so you know I can have a you know the kind of it a big role in that I can I can encourage support put it in your ideas and yeah, when we get things wrong off my job is just to pick people up in a dust them off and send them back on the way and off we go again smart somebody initiatives you involved in out of the business.

I get team sky's it's great.

It's also great for brand building so I can see the commercial imperative but when you look at something like ocean rescue.

It seems an incredibly were the initiative and where did the Genesis of that come from because it's someone at some point must have said to you.

This is important.

We now in the business of changing the world for the better or businesses operate in a broader ecosystem and the idea of of business being you either way independent of that only focused on itself its its own financial performance.

I don't think it's right and I think increasing you if we look at how the public are thinking about big business.

We hear that time and time again.

What are things? I do as a generalisation called business in the community and we've received a quite a lot of research.

I should want people how people perceive big business in particular is very interesting what people say they all say that the environment is very very important to them when they want the see the concerned about the environment and they want to see business team or filter.

About young people a lot and the Order of the business has a role to give the Next Generation opportunity to get on the career ladder and and do better as ill.

Talk a lot about showing up now when people use the phrase showing up.

It's about contributing in your local community.

It's about paying your taxes.

It's about you know being responsible about what you doing seeing that the bigger picture of where you exist and where you successful the final thing they will talk about it.

Is is hissing business and be willing to work together not always just work for its own hands, but be able to partner with a particle passages on some issues for a greater good.

So that that sort of thinking if you like which I think is very problem.

That is really Always Been part of our view of Sky that we don't exist in isolation and we want not just to be a successful business.

We want to be good doesn't and we want to contribute to the communities in which we work and we cry so that might manifest itself in work on the end.

Comment ocean rescue and focusing on plastic pollution pollution in the ocean single use Plastics in particular is a core part of that the working on today prior to that we worked in the Amazon Rainforest to save a billion trees by making them more more valuable Elijah all them dead that was incredibly successful and we got big focus around her own at your environmental footprint in the business as a whole Turkey be that it could be the work we do in schools particular on sport and grassroots sports initiatives and encouraging more people to come into sports 18 sky was very much about that.

It was this idea of an inspirational journey to create the first British team to win the Tour de France that would let that will encourage more families and young people to participate and cycling and get on their bikes for fun and fitness and if you look across the UK today you can sort of see that it's win-win isn't as you doing good but without being cynical you being seem to be doing good as well.

That's the primary motivation which clearly good for both for those of you helping hands.

Including raising morale imagine within the organisation itself very very important.

You know whenever we've done and initiatives like this at the support that we've had from all of our colleagues that an acid supplier base as well as be really quite exceptional so only a couple weeks ago.

I was in the volunteering day and everybody went out and volunteered in the local community and I had a chance to spend some time and day with different colleagues and it was one day yet, and we all enjoyed it.

We did some good we got some exercise and physical activity felt that we're doing a little bit to contribute of course when you when you you colour that up across 31000 people in Sky and there is a similar program across the whole comcast organization the organisation as a whole they volunteered something like 250000 days of effort in local Communities making a difference and I mean why can't you like that im integrating to do what's your personal journey? Did he when you started out in the

Studies in you doing a degree did you always want to do you think one day? I'm going to run a global Media behemoth, and what's next for you say no to the Bond villains none of that sort of stuff now.

Are you at the working class community in the north east of England lot of change the Minds closing down a lot of change in insult manufacturing in manufacturing and engineering and one of the things that I thought was very sad at the time was was not so much that those environments and Industries have to change because they did is there any Nothing came behind and I think for a long period of time that left a shadow.

That's only my father's generation.

My mum's Generation are so many of my father's friends Good Men really really good people never really worked again and so I think early on I had this idea of the sort of Pi

Herald of Free Enterprise to create opportunity incommunities not that stuck very very closely with me and when you remove that when you removed Employment and the role of business comply 180 that that could be so I think my initial drawing to business came from those sorts of sorts of areas.

I was my generation was the third-generation to get University and the my first really big break at yours when I join Procter and Gamble and PGI you know it was a wonderful business.

It was a very very responsible business thought everything it did When I Was Then I think continues to this day all started with consumers and customers and it was drilled into be early on to store every every conversation every idea here with what's the consumer benefit? What is a customer wand that's you know star sign if you keep talking to that Northstar you know you'll do really well and so you know really when I went on from there.

What did you join png as what did what we doing a cost accountant at the Tyne Tunnel and we were in the process of closing it and and what are the things that we did was we we we we worked with many of the guys who worked on the lines.

They would do to create additional modules to develop their skills and I can remember early on having to convince one of my colleagues there, then he needed to be you help me with a cost accounts.

You done.

This was a man probably you know he was in his 50s.

You was going to find future future employment difficult and it really early to have to have to do and yet.

He was so voracious for improvement that he was he was very very keen to do it and threw himself into it so I saw started there really and and and then it went all now.

Worked across many many categories worked in Europe for a while.

It is still well at p&g.

So ipgvip for about 213 years.

I was finance director for the health Healthcare business broadside outside the us know which was a fantastic business now.

We are we grew that business from almost nothing to be a very successful business over time and one of the quirks of Medical Profession is there if you're going to work a broadly typically have to keep Prix qualifying which is all aboard if you think about it because human beings are pretty much the same every other world over but it's it's it's now available anywhere in the UK will be based in the UK and from that I joined the Dixons stores group became finance director and then from there joints kind 2000-2004 and they're obviously it be.

Well over a decade I mean tell us about your journey.

What have been the learning outcomes along the way and in terms of your own personal journey.

Well.

I think I would stand back inside the start of your career.

You know you've got so total control if you like over a very very narrow area area which doesn't have much impact impact of your may have quite big impact in terms of what you do, but if you think of the Enterprise as a whole is pretty small and at the end of your career you almost have zero control and yet impact of total so the skill sets that you require change enormously and of course one of the challenges.

I think of many people is there much of their early success is driven by the Direct contribution in areas, which they have control and much of the success later in life is about his ability to get success through others to solve let go of Direct control, but but to work with colleagues work more broadly and work through others and I think this is one of the big things that people find difficult.

What is learning to change that skillset overtime but it's the only way you'll ever Craig capacity unit is it would be impossible for me to do my job if I wanted to control everything he continues and install satellite dishes and run the call centre.

So you have to read very very differently then about how you going to influence a business and what you what you're always nothing one of the great challenges many people I see is it the role too busy, but I never want to give anything up that actually the smallest ones learn very quickly that she by reducing parts there their functional responsibility to allow them to have a bigger impact across the business is the way that you can actually achieve more because I suppose your biggest influence on that the organisation is is setting the overall tone and culture and direction of the business.

Is it not very much so I think you are having grown up through finance one of the things that you you realise is that the Rulebook actually you get is all you get less and less enamored.

Why the Rulebook because you realise of its limitations and that so much more of the business is driven by culture about the environment about the idea of doing the right thing about getting people in the right place and allowing them to apply the judgement against a strong frame of values, so it's only really values hear that all the immutable thing that are things that we say we demand and say we all have to share a common set of values, but how you sure you know your behaviours as long as they're not getting in the way of somebody else, so young performance performance in a be yourself be your best self at eight skirts guy so and that has to start of the top only can start anywhere else you know and it and I think a lot of what you can do with hopefully is is is live those values show them to your colleagues show that the business in the tough times be willing to take those decisions the back them up and then people will respond to them.

Someone once said to me while ago that yes the fish does Rock from the head but you can also prosper from the head of the organisations they run well then you're almost not thanked for it your teeth because people tend to focus on when isolated examples of when things go wrong 100% and so all those circumstances.

You know really when you do your best work.

You know when the when the business is under stress was Something's happening and that and then how do you you know really than lead and set the example and Direct the the business you're right.

You know when when the business has the winded it's back in momentum, then.

It's never easy, but it's easier when you're actually you know running the business and the hard times that that's more challenging now professionally you know I like that because I think over the course of the career you want to do both you know you want to also be able to challenge challenge yourself when things have been talking to the journey on Sky's you know it's not been easy use with has been.

Times when it's been really challenging but you know we come through that and and of course when she come through it then you're the next time you face that Imposter as they say you know you know you just much much better at dealing with them.

Is there a kind of existential weight of leadership because you are running a global business with many thousands of employees.

I mean I look at the prime minister's we had recently New Look at said Tony Blair David Cameron they seem to thrive on that if I was an opportunity to do it, where is Theresa May's Gordon Brown it seemed to wear very heavily on their shoulders there but all four of them were doing the same job but two of them were made miserable buy it.

I think it's always that you know the things that you know I worry about from time to time you worry about it you worry about the people that sky you know you were that you have a look the business down.

I mean these things can I can't in the times do do do way on ubu CT11 to consume you you know you have to let you know you have to be able to come home then.

Donedeal Willows what are the great things that my parents he gave me is that you know through my early uni childhood and through school a time and again.

You know they just said just do your best and that's really sort of stuck stuck with me and I think actually if you just do your best and then you just expect and believe that everybody else has just doing the best.

You know you'll be in a good place to discuss pressures of course as challenges the times I can be a cute, but you know that is what it is.

What's important as we stay focused on the fundamentals.

We stay true to ourselves and we do about it all time and have a belief that with that you know will succeed you there tomorrow will be better that way if you if you if you can capture that then you can even be ok because you'll be able to keep his other things into perspective tell us a bit more about how you've developed the culture in the working practice here at Skyrim clearly.

There's a sky Ethos is how how purposeful held.

Did is that is some of it's almost autonomous as well? It's unconscious level standards to be very very inclusive and to try and attract Talent from all areas and then you let people be themselves at work.

You know and I think everybody is at their best when they're the best salt creating an environment if you like when people can do their best work.

Is it so it's so productive and then goes and people feel that they give more and more of that discretionary time to the business support more effort into the business and we're going to benefit as a consequence of that and then they think I think would be just the physical environment around here so this service are on today.

This is where sky was set up back in the late 80s and we've always wanted to stay here because this is where the business was was was was formed by the mentioned Rupert Murdoch before Rupert original office was just just over a Shoal

Aberdare many times I have many fond memories of this is the first Sky News studio that I was in I used to do that many years ago, but one of those that somebody's been to the site of few times is whenever Sky News cover petrol issues and they were now crossing over to a petrol station in West London is always the one that's just been here many times.

Do you know that I was raised an eyebrow? If some is there are stories around the local community because they seem sky develop and grow and I love your conversation a few years ago with her with her mum and she talked about how her kids at come down soccer Saturday and would come and see you don't various footballers that celebrities of stars and

Wi-Fi with Sky so we've invested in all of our sites particularly this site to really try and create a brilliant working environment open connected transparent that we got incredible facilities that glass Box Studios like something out of nasarawa.

Future or something and it's myself my colleagues or visitors.

They see that TV production is right that the beating heart of this this business who always was the case and it is today and I hope it will be for many many years to come when everything in internal is either directly or indirectly in under your control you can set the culture make sure you had the right people and so on and so forth but there are you not events nearby as there is this of the externalities.

You don't know whether the regulators going to get anywhere where you can put it as in the want something at the been hiding from you that to what extent is things outside of Sky wing on your mind so I don't think.

Hyena, generally be because that you can only control the things you can control and of course if you do the right things you go about things the right way and we do then.

That's the best way to manage you know risks for a regulation or law change all that stuff so I think you got to go upstream to deal with that but that happens of course.

I need a couple of things room porn first of all.

There's not to confuse when things go wrong with somebody made a mistake and sometimes stuff.

Just goes wrong with a regular takes the decision.

He may not agree with that.

It is what it is very important those moments just to keep it into perspective and to Auntie keep moving to keep moving forward now conversely, you know it's also I often say you know you don't have to be sick to get better.

So I actually improvement can start from a very high standard and Sky in a we believe in better here always focus on how we can keep improving and so I think if you can create a culture that based around that first of all.

I think you're putting yourself in the bath.

Place for more things to be going your way and that's actually the best shield when when when things go wrong will come out you and you've created the end of momentum to carry the business through so yeah businesses, are you know it is a huge mix mix of different activities at any point in time.

So I'm still working really well some stuffs.

Ok and some Stubbs.

Off-track would you seem to make sure that the idea that everything will be working perfectly all the time is navigraph.

I've never achieved that anyway and we need to make sure that more the good stuff as offsetting you know someone had wins did you think almost as as a society that we seem to be divided into into camps like brexit for example.

I don't know anyone that's changed their mind on brexit ever since the referendum was cold and it's still dragging on is that something that but the Troubles you as a as a business operator the uncertainty or is it is it the in the globalised environment.

That's just one territory albeit an important one.

I think it's one of the challenges certainly the Jenner

Patient is dealing with in I think the nature of a lot of them so social media connectivity unfortunately.

I think is things get can get very very negative very quickly and I think it's a real shame actually but I think sometimes people confuse the news and just facts to match with Bruce with hyperbowl perspective that theories on on something which get portrayed as fat Skylar BBC a part of the Conspiracy and Alice nonsense.

Yeah, so there's no easy answer to that.

I don't I don't think I think soon as we as we think and talk about your response that responsibility either either a responsible show was a visit as a as a business, but won't be seen in some of the social media giant huge businesses now.

You need to be a change because it can become corrosive to you know the things that blue Society together and it is important.

I think also remember what you want.

We do the midges.

This is so close you lying to Culcheth

Pics of society that the of eating start to go wrong then or effects, so you know we have to be responsible.

You know we have to think very very responsibly if a running businesses about what's the right thing to do and not getting overly aggressive and negative into many areas I mean I I see someone like Kay Burley was an amazing very accomplished journalist doing a fantastic job at Sky who just gets a volley of horrendous abuse on Twitter everyday in a misogynist conspiracy theories just downright horrible notice that would prostrate me as her employer because there's not a lot you can do about it.

You don't own Twitter you're not on the board.

How can you do without eyes that just is it the on-screen journalist now.

Just have to accept that the toxicity of social media is a Price worth paying at the moment.

Is that a Karen doing their job and not be silent surely.

You look at it.

I think it right now.

It is a bit is a price on it and it's it's a disaggregated price on things people say I just is horrendous awful.

Really I mean really or not.

I think we need to see the social media giant do more it's just you know it seems to me unit you know let's take something has guiders you know the cost of forgotten footballers has grown enormously over the last few the last few years now.

You know we chose to be in football.

Nobody forced us to do that that was our strategic choice and so you never gonna find me complaining about that one of the other is Twitter or Facebook or what they've chosen to be in their business, so I think they have to accept the costs the go without of Acting responsibly and I think they've been too slow to do so and to many areas and now it is in terms of my colleagues and whether it's ok or anybody else.

You know job is to support fortunately we've got some incredible journalist pay as a brilliant example of that in launch stream.

Lyrics extremely strong imagine.

It's water off a Duck's back.

She shouldn't have to endure roof cost.

Second but I can see clearly credit to scan ewes.

She goes about her job.

I say it's just a brilliant example.

I think of the skies about what I journalism stands for what's the weather in well-known faces stand for an empowered woman stands for so so so we are job is just to help and support about thought she was case she doesn't even sure she's she's very very accomplished I missed you this question now which you would be well within your rights not to answer but what mistakes have you made along the way the Americans will call them teaching moments wouldn't it was no big big mistake.

You know fortunate to have made but you make lots of small ones along the way broadly.

I think you know when I've not followed my intuition and have not listened to that voice in my head that says you're not sure about that or do that and have perhaps been to suede by parts the sort of immediacy other lodger.

Call Pat of short term decision and sometimes.

I think it's easy to salting decisions light all the tide out along with indecision, so be a set of things that I think I didn't really follow my my gut Instinct as much as I should have done and then I think the second thing only really know I might look back at some of things.

We've done it's been successful, and wish I pushed harder earlier.

You know when an experience.

I think that brings with you the sort of confidence to do that, but when you're early in tirol parts or you or you're not quite so sure intend to be a little bit more cautious than that is not been any ASUS a huge huge things they're in the business.

We we try and you don't we capture those things and talk about because they can be very powerful things for other people to hear and to learn about I'll be many more.

I'm sure they'll be many more down the road, but I don't get too bothered by that Tina that's just that's just part of life final question then what do

Only Legacy to be what do you want to be written on a gravestone Spike Milligan always said date on his graves and it says I told you I was ill.

I think I think I think first and foremost.

You know it would not interest rate me more of the business Tumbles her business the girls on him and his success on and two things.

I think really flow from that first of all an environment of a culture where people do the universe or rip It Up And Start Again I mean build-up make it better that there's never any sort of attachment that can't be changed because I think it's so important that we renew the whole time and I hope this idea of permanent renewal is now deeply embedded in the business and then secondly you know a business.

That's as I said earlier.

That is a good business.

She know that understands that well funded national infrastructures important and therefore it's important.

We pay our taxes.

It's important that we create opportunity for you.

All people is important that.

Are we have got a very open culture environment? I mean these are the things for me that that's guys been built upon and I really hope they would continue and and and the business 10:15 20 years whenever is from now.

It's bigger better, but I'm all contribute in business to the communities in which it's right and what's next for you might.

I'd mischievously asked last question to have a busy day today, Well.

I just really enjoying that focused on that entering politics becoming prime minister and sorting out the country.

Well Jeremy thank you ever so much free time it's been hugely enjoyable and have learnt a lot this living with her to speak to you thinking of right angles podcast in association with big things Media