Business

Former BBC chairman Sir Christopher Bland dies aged 78

Ex-BT chair was raised in Northern Ireland and represented Ireland in 1960 Olympics

Sir Christopher Bland: he was born in Japan, where his father was working for Shell. Photograph: Johnny Green/PA Wire

Sun Jan 29 2017 - 20:07

Sir Christopher Bland, who has died aged 78, chaired the BBC for five years and spearheaded the revival of BT in the early 2000s, in what were the two most prominent roles in a series of senior corporate and public service jobs.

He initially forged a career in politics and was elected to the Greater London Council in 1967. However, his business career started to dominate his time, and the media and the arts also beckoned: in 1972 he was appointed deputy chairman of the Independent Television Authority and later chaired London Weekend Television, presiding over its acquisition by rival Granada. At the same time he maintained a diverse range of activities, with roles at the National Freight Corporation and Storehouse, and a spell as chairman of the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust.

Knighted for his work with the National Health Service in 1993, he came to wider prominence when he was appointed chairman of the BBC board of governors in 1996. He became a staunch defender of the BBC after leaving the broadcaster.

Tony Hall, the BBC's director-general, said: "Sir Christopher Bland was an outstanding chairman of the BBC. He was a great communicator who both understood the creativity of broadcasting as well as the business of it."

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Sir Christopher returned to the City as chairman of BT in 2001, at a time when the telecoms company was in danger of financial collapse. He compiled a “to-do” list that he carried around in his pocket, regularly referring to it as the company clawed its way out of trouble. It was during his tenure that BT first invested in broadband networks.

He was also at BT when it became embroiled in a row over the failed plan to upgrade the technology systems used by the NHS; the company had won sizeable contracts but struggled to make the new systems work.

Sir Christopher described BT as “slightly like a dog chasing a car . . . what do we do if we catch it? Well, we’ve caught it.”

BT said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened to hear that Sir Christopher has passed away. He was a strong and charismatic chairman who helped to restore BT to health over many years.”

Prostate cancer

His death follows a three-year battle with prostate cancer. “We’re enormously proud of everything he achieved, from steering the BBC through tough times to his late flowering as a novelist,” his family said. Bland is survived by his wife, Lady Jennifer, his son, Archie, and four stepchildren.

Sir Francis Christopher Buchan Bland was born in 1938 in Yokohama, Japan, where his father was working for Shell. He was raised in Northern Ireland and went to school at Sedbergh, in Cumbria, before attending Oxford university. An accomplished fencer, he represented Ireland in the sport at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

Sir Christopher shunned the airs and graces of some of his predecessors. At BT, he used the staff canteen and allowed staff to use a lift previously reserved for the chairman of the company. When his favourite football team, Southampton, reached the FA Cup final in 2003, he opted to watch from the stands rather than using BT’s box at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

He chaired the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2004 to 2011 and maintained interests in publishing and vineyards. He also published two historical novels set in Ireland. Of one of them, Ashes in the Wind, he told The Irish Times that he would "place my novel halfway between the Booker Prize and the beach, and I'm content with that". He expressed regret that he had not pursued sooner his dream of becoming an author.

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2017

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