Ofcom’s CEO Ed Richards will step down from his post at the end of December after eight years in the job.
The UK telecoms regulator is working with headhunter Zygos Partnership to find Richards’ successor and hopes to have recruited someone by early…
Ofcom’s CEO Ed Richards will step down from his post at the end of December after eight years in the job.
The UK telecoms regulator is working with headhunter Zygos Partnership to find Richards’ successor and hopes to have recruited someone by early 2015.
The position of CEO is a public appointment made by Ofcom’s board. The recruitment process will be overseen by an independent assessor and the appointment is subject to the approval of the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Sajid Javid.
Patricia Hodgson, Ofcom’s chair, said: “Under [Richards’] leadership, Ofcom has helped to deliver super-fast broadband, 4G, lower prices, innovation, competition, and sustainable public service broadcasting in the UK.”
Richards said: “It has been a privilege to lead Ofcom during such an exciting and dynamic period in the evolution of the UK’s communications sector.
He became CEO of the watchdog in 2006, after joining the regulator’s board in 2003 and being made COO in 2005.
Prior to Ofcom, he was a senior policy adviser to the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and before that he was controller of corporate strategy at the BBC.
Richards’ next move is unknown. In 2012, the UK press strongly linked Richards to the BBC director-general job on the two occasions the post was vacant.