Henry Staunton (businessman)

Henry Staunton (born 20 May 1948 in India), is a British businessman, the chairman of British retailer, WH Smith[1] and the former Finance Director of Granada Group and ITV plc.

Named in The Times 2006 Power 100 survey, and rated as one of the UK's top 50 finance movers and shakers by Accountancy Age,[2] Staunton is an "experienced finance professional"[3] and "well regarded dealmaker".[4][5] While at Granada he helped steer one of the largest mergers in media history - creating a unified ITV - and played a role in ensuring Granada and its executives came out on top after the £5.8bn deal to merge Carlton and Granada.[6]

He sits on the boards of insurer Legal & General, The Merchants Trust plc, Standard Bank and property investment and development company Capital & Counties Properties.[7]

Education and early career

Staunton attended Ipswich School before reading Economics and Statistics at the University of Exeter. In 1970 he joined auditing firm Price Waterhouse: he was admitted as a partner in 1981, later becoming Senior Audit Partner, looking after a number of its clients including news service Reuters and textiles and chemicals manufacturer Courtaulds.[8]

Granada and ITV

Staunton was appointed to the board of ITV plc on 3 December 2003 after the merger of Granada and Carlton.[9] Previously he served as the Finance Director of Granada Group plc, which he joined in 1993.

Since then, Granada / ITV has:

On 21 September 2005 ITV plc announced that Staunton planned to step down as Finance Director.[10] He resigned from the Board of ITV plc on 29 March 2006,[11] announcing that he planned to "broadly retire".[12]

Non-executive career

Staunton's experience includes non-executive roles as Chairman of Ashtead Group plc, a plant hire company (1997–2004), and as a director of EMAP plc, a consumer magazine and media company. In 2002, Staunton (who had been on the Emap board since 1995) was forced to resign after a government ruling that he could not be on the board of both Granada and Emap.[13]

He has also served on the boards of ITN, a British news broadcaster, and BSkyB - the operator of the UK's largest digital pay television platform - and international fashion retailer New Look[14][15] Staunton was also a non-executive director of Ladbrokes from September 2006 to May 2010.[16]

He was appointed to the board of Legal & General on 1 May 2004 [17] and served as Vice Chairman and Senior Independent Director[18] until his retirement from the board in May 2013.[19]

He is also a non-executive director of Standard Bank.[20] Staunton was appointed Chairman of the Board Audit Committee and a director on 1 December 2005.

In April 2007 The Times reported that Vector, the £2.5 billion hotel real estate investment trust (Reit), was about to unveil a "high-powered set of nonexecutive directors" including Henry Staunton.[21]

He was appointed a non-executive director of The Merchants Trust plc (with effect from 1 May 2008) on April 2008.[22]

In 2010, it was announced he was to join the non-executive boards of WH Smith plc[23] and Capital & Counties Properties.[24]

Other interests

Outside of his business life, Staunton sits on the advisory board of the University of Exeter Business School.[25] He plays Eton Fives[26] and golf. His clubs include Walton Heath Golf Club[27] and the RAC.[28]

References
  1. John O'Doherty (8 June 2010). "WH Smith appoints new chairman". FT.com. Retrieved 27 November 2012.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. "Top 50 power list (part 2) - 08 Jan 2004". Accountancy Age. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  3. Accountancy Age, 8 June 2010 Finance experts take top WH Smith roles
  4. The Daily Telegraph, 22 September 2005
  5. The Business, 25 September 2005
  6. "I'm an FD, get me out of here - 29 Sep 2005". Accountancy Age. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  7. "Browse jobs | Telegraph Jobs". Jobs.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  8. Henry E. Staunton F.C.A., B.A., A.R.N. "Henry Staunton: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". Investing.businessweek.com. Retrieved 27 November 2012.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "ITV plc Report and accounts 2006" (PDF). Itvplc.com. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  10. Marketing, 21 December 2005
  11. Regulatory News Service, 30 March 2006
  12. "Business | The Times". Business.timesonline.co.uk. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  13. "Personal finance news, how to make money, how to save money". Telegraph. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  14. "Henry Staunton director information. Free company director check". www.cbetta.com. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  15. Jones, Adam (2 February 2010). "New Look listing aims to raise £650m". FT.com. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  16. WH Smith plc, Board Changes, 8 June 2012
  17. Archived 12 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine Legal & General Annual Reports & Accounts 2011
  18. "Legal & General - Group Board". Investor.legalandgeneral.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  19. "Directorate Change - Legal & General press release". March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  20. "Annual report 2005 : Directors' report". Standard Bank. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  21. Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  22. Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  23. "Finance experts take top WH Smith roles - 08 Jun 2010". Accountancy Age. Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  24. "Capital & Counties Properties News (CAPC) Share Prices, Charts, News, Financials, and More". Digital Look. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  25. "Board of Advisors - University of Exeter Business School". Business-school.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  26. "Personal finance news, how to make money, how to save money". Telegraph. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  27. Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  28. "Henry Staunton". LinkedIn. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.