At the Sharp end The BBC’s new Chair, Richard Sharp, the former Goldman Sachs banker helping to steer the BBC through challenging times, is profiled by Steve Clarke
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here is already something of a buzz around Richard Sharp, the new BBC Chair, and about what he and Director- General Tim Davie might achieve together as they navigate the corporation towards what we all hope is a post-Covid world. Inevitably, not everyone at the BBC was pleased that another money man was chosen as successor to Sir David Clementi – himself a former deputy governor of the Bank of England. But many across the TV sector were relieved that a more controversial candidate was not appointed. “I genuinely welcome Richard Sharp’s appointment,” says Sir Peter Bazalgette, ITV’s Chair. “It is a very good appointment for the BBC.” This kind of enthusiasm for Sharp, who started his new job last month, is not difficult to find within TV, not least because the new Chair was pivotal in helping to secure the Treasury’s creative industries relief package, the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, so important to helping at least some TV freelancers keep their heads above water during the past year. Pact CEO John McVay, who was fundamental to brokering the deal, says: “Excuse the pun but Sharp by name, sharp by nature. He asked me
Richard Sharp
what was the one thing stopping production restarting? I said insurance. We’ve got everything ready to go but we can’t switch on the cameras again because no one will insure us. “Because we can’t get insurance, no one will invest. He doesn’t understand how production works, but he got it and took me to task with some very tough questioning.” McVay adds: “He’s very acute, inquiring and will bring a powerful intellect to the BBC at a time when it
needs to think quite profoundly about it’s future.” Others, too, draw attention to Sharp’s intellect, a lightning-quick mind, and a staccato way of speaking that resembles machine-gun fire. Following his encounter with McVay, Sharp then opened the door for Pact to Rishi Sunak – the Chancellor had worked for Sharp at Goldman Sachs and brought him in as an adviser to the Treasury last spring during the first lockdown.
