David Young (TV producer)

Young began his career as a runner for Hat Trick Productions in the early 1990s after graduating from Bristol University with a BA Honours degree in Drama. He later secured a development deal with Hat Trick where he went on to create and produce Whatever You Want for BBC One. Following a brief spell creating and producing his own formats at Endemol UK, he became the youngest ever Head of Light Entertainment at BBC Television in 1999. At the BBC, Young and his team created a string of hits including: Friends Like These, Dog Eat Dog, Jet Set and The Weakest Link. In 2001 Young quit the BBC to set up 12 Yard with his former employers Hat Trick. Six years later, Young sold the business to ITV plc for £35 million in December 2007.

Since joining ITV Studios the company continue to prosper. In early 2009 they signed a £15 million output deal with the BBC after agreeing to produce their programmes Eggheads, In It To Win It, and Who Dares Wins from Glasgow, Scotland. The latest 12 Yard success is Coach Trip, the reality game show, which relaunched on Channel Four in April 2009. The success of Coach Trip led to a Channel Four recommissioning a 50 episode run. Coach Trip is the latest 12 Yard format to be launched around the world.

• Brown, Maggie (23 October 2000). "He ain't heavy: Special report - the future of the BBC". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-03-04. Plucked from independent production at the tender age of 32 and offered the run of the BBC's light entertainment output, David Young didn't disappoint.