Adam Crozier
Encyclopedia
Adam Crozier is a Scottish businessman, and the current chief executive officer
of media company ITV plc
, operator of the television channel ITV
in England and Wales. After a career at Saatchi & Saatchi
culminating with the post of joint chief executive 1995, he came to wide public prominence as the new chief executive of The Football Association
in 2000 at the age of 35, before in 2003 becoming the chief executive of the Royal Mail Group, the United Kingdom's mail delivery service, where he oversaw a controversial modernisation programme. In January 2010 he was announced as the new chief executive of ITV plc, where he arrived on 26 April 2010.
on the west coast of Scotland
in 1964. His father was a manager for Lord Bute
, and his mother was secretary to the Managing Director of The Scotsman
. Crozier went to a school in Ayr
, before moving to Graeme High School
, a comprehensive school in Falkirk
. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
degree (BA) in Business Organisation from Edinburgh
's Heriot-Watt University
. While at school, Crozier had trials with both Hibernian
and Stirling Albion
football clubs.
as a graduate trainee in 1984. In 1986, he moved to the Daily Telegraph to work in media sales.
.
, the governing body of England's national game, football
, aged just 35 and having had no experience of business in football. He replaced Graham Kelly
. In his short tenure from 2000 to 2002, the FA relocated headquarters from Lancaster Gate
to Soho Square
, appointed the first ever foreign England national team
manager, Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson
, and became a more commercial organisation maximising its revenues. He also reduced the average age of the FA's staff from 55 to 32, progressed the Wembley Stadium
redevelopment, and reduced the FA's ruling body from a 91 member FA Board to a 12 member committee. His moves were not without criticism, with complaints from some about lack of consultation and of acting beyond his powers. He was replaced by Mark Palios
.
While at the FA, Crozier reportedly identified some members of the England national team as the Golden Generation
. It was a term later criticised towards the end of the decade by some England players as having been undeserved, and of causing undue expectations and pressure due to the fact they had at the time, and in years since, failed to win major tournaments.
in February 2003. Entering the post, Crozier described his remit as the "biggest corporate turnaround programme in the UK". Crozier initiated a programme of modernisation and reform, in order to deal with changes in the service brought about by reforms beginning with the Postal Services Act 2000
.
In Crozier's first three years, the Royal Mail division produced record annual profits of £537m in May 2005, making £2m a day in profits, up from £1.5m a day losses before he joined. The Group overall had been transformed from recording losses of £1.1bn at the start of the turnaround plan in 2002 into a profit of £355m in 2005. The Post Offices however in particular continued to operate a loss. Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton
said it was a "fantastic turnaround" but also that there was still "a huge amount to do". The newly formed mail regulator Postwatch were however critical that it had failed to achieve 11 of its 15 licence targets during the previous financial year. As the postal service was opened up to competition in early 2006 however, Royal Mail recorded losses of £10m in 2006 and £279m in 2007.
His reforms included highly controversial large scale post office closures in the thousands, layoffs of Royal Mail staff, changes in working practices, and the ending of the second daily delivery and moving the first daily delivery to later in the day. While at the Royal Mail, Crozier's large salary, one of the largest in the country for the head of a publicly owned body, was repeatedly criticised as undeserved and hypocritical in light of the changes being made to the Royal Mail workforce. Ongoing reforms eventually led to large scale industrial disputes and strike action in both 2007
and 2009 onwards
.
. ITV plc is the operator of ITV
television network, the United Kingdom's oldest commercial network established in 1955, and the first funded by advertising but also with a public service mandate
, set up in order to compete with the BBC
. Crozier was replacing Michael Grade
, who announced his intention to leave in April 2009. Crozier will be given the task of increasing ITV's advertising revenues which had fallen with the proliferation of new channels in the British television market. On announcing the appointment, ITV chairman Archie Norman
said of Crozier that he is a "very strong leader with a great track record in delivering transformational change."
, the National Lottery
operator, and the Debenhams
retail chain. He is also member of the President’s Committee of the Confederation of British Industry
(CBI).
and has two children. Despite having taken on high profile jobs involving pressing through major upheavals, he is described as "softly spoken" and has previously said of the spotlight, "I hate it, absolutely hate it. The bizarre thing about the last three jobs I've done is that I don't like [the public profile] at all. I will go to enormous lengths not to do public things - because it is just not me."
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of media company ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
, operator of the television channel ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in England and Wales. After a career at Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
culminating with the post of joint chief executive 1995, he came to wide public prominence as the new chief executive of The Football Association
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
in 2000 at the age of 35, before in 2003 becoming the chief executive of the Royal Mail Group, the United Kingdom's mail delivery service, where he oversaw a controversial modernisation programme. In January 2010 he was announced as the new chief executive of ITV plc, where he arrived on 26 April 2010.
Early life & Education
Crozier was born and raised on the Isle of ButeIsle of Bute
Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Formerly part of the county of Buteshire, it now constitutes part of the council area of Argyll and Bute. Its resident population was 7,228 in April 2001.-Geography:...
on the west coast of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1964. His father was a manager for Lord Bute
John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute
John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute, KBE was the son of the 5th Marquess of Bute and the former Lady Eileen Forbes ....
, and his mother was secretary to the Managing Director of The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
. Crozier went to a school in Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...
, before moving to Graeme High School
Graeme High School
Graeme High School is a non-denominational public secondary school located in Falkirk, Scotland. The school is run by Falkirk Council on behalf of the Scottish Executive Education Department. The catchment area is served by Hallglen, Laurieston, St...
, a comprehensive school in Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree (BA) in Business Organisation from Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
's Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University is a university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The name commemorates George Heriot, the 16th century financier to King James, and James Watt, the great 18th century inventor and engineer....
. While at school, Crozier had trials with both Hibernian
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
and Stirling Albion
Stirling Albion F.C.
Stirling Albion F.C. are a Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Second Division. The club are nicknamed The Binos . They play at Doubletree Dunblane Stadium in Stirling, on the outskirts of the city near the River Forth...
football clubs.
Early career
Crozier joined Pedigree PetfoodsPedigree Petfoods
Pedigree Petfoods is a subsidiary of the american group Mars, Incorporated specializing in pet food, with factories in Great Britain at Melton Mowbray, Peterborough and Birstall, Leeds; and offices at Waltham-on-the-Wolds.-Manchester:...
as a graduate trainee in 1984. In 1986, he moved to the Daily Telegraph to work in media sales.
Saatchi & Saatchi
From 1988 to 1999 Crozier worked for advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi, becoming media director in 1990, and then being appointed as joint chief executive from 1995 alongside Tamara Ingram. This occurred in the wake of a change of ownership which saw the departure of the founding Saatchi brothers to form M&C SaatchiM&C Saatchi
M&C Saatchi is an international advertising agency network formed in January 1995 by the brothers Maurice Saatchi and Charles Saatchi after they were ousted from the advertising agency group Saatchi & Saatchi which they had founded in 1970...
.
Football Association
Crozier came to public attention as the surprise appointment to the role of chief executive of The Football AssociationThe Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
, the governing body of England's national game, football
Football in England
Association football is a national sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game...
, aged just 35 and having had no experience of business in football. He replaced Graham Kelly
Graham Kelly (football)
Graham Kelly is an English football administrator. He was Secretary of the Football League and Chief executive of the Football Association from 1989 to 1998....
. In his short tenure from 2000 to 2002, the FA relocated headquarters from Lancaster Gate
Lancaster Gate
Lancaster Gate is a mid-19th century development in the Bayswater district of west central London, immediately to the north of Kensington Gardens. It consists of two long terraces of houses overlooking the park, with a wide gap between them opening onto a square containing a church. Further...
to Soho Square
Soho Square
Soho Square is a square in Soho, London, England, with a park and garden area at its centre that dates back to 1681. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, whose statue stands in the square. At the centre of the garden, there is a distinctive half-timbered gardener's hut...
, appointed the first ever foreign England national team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
manager, Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
, and became a more commercial organisation maximising its revenues. He also reduced the average age of the FA's staff from 55 to 32, progressed the Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
redevelopment, and reduced the FA's ruling body from a 91 member FA Board to a 12 member committee. His moves were not without criticism, with complaints from some about lack of consultation and of acting beyond his powers. He was replaced by Mark Palios
Mark Palios
Mark Palios is an English chartered accountant, football administrator and former professional footballer. He studied Psychology at Manchester University....
.
While at the FA, Crozier reportedly identified some members of the England national team as the Golden Generation
Golden Generation
In sport, a golden generation is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved...
. It was a term later criticised towards the end of the decade by some England players as having been undeserved, and of causing undue expectations and pressure due to the fact they had at the time, and in years since, failed to win major tournaments.
Royal Mail
Crozier became the chief executive of the Royal Mail GroupRoyal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
in February 2003. Entering the post, Crozier described his remit as the "biggest corporate turnaround programme in the UK". Crozier initiated a programme of modernisation and reform, in order to deal with changes in the service brought about by reforms beginning with the Postal Services Act 2000
Postal Services Act 2000
The Postal Services Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relating to the postal industry. It established an industry regulator, Postcomm , a consumer watchdog, Postwatch , required a "universal service" of post to be provided and set up rules for licensing postal services...
.
In Crozier's first three years, the Royal Mail division produced record annual profits of £537m in May 2005, making £2m a day in profits, up from £1.5m a day losses before he joined. The Group overall had been transformed from recording losses of £1.1bn at the start of the turnaround plan in 2002 into a profit of £355m in 2005. The Post Offices however in particular continued to operate a loss. Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton
Allan Leighton
Allan Leighton is an English businessman, former CEO of Asda and former non-executive Chairman of the Royal Mail.-Biography:Born in Hereford, the son of a Co-op stores manager, he was raised in Oxford...
said it was a "fantastic turnaround" but also that there was still "a huge amount to do". The newly formed mail regulator Postwatch were however critical that it had failed to achieve 11 of its 15 licence targets during the previous financial year. As the postal service was opened up to competition in early 2006 however, Royal Mail recorded losses of £10m in 2006 and £279m in 2007.
His reforms included highly controversial large scale post office closures in the thousands, layoffs of Royal Mail staff, changes in working practices, and the ending of the second daily delivery and moving the first daily delivery to later in the day. While at the Royal Mail, Crozier's large salary, one of the largest in the country for the head of a publicly owned body, was repeatedly criticised as undeserved and hypocritical in light of the changes being made to the Royal Mail workforce. Ongoing reforms eventually led to large scale industrial disputes and strike action in both 2007
2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes
The 2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes were a series of industrial disputes between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
and 2009 onwards
2009 Royal Mail industrial disputes
The 2009 Royal Mail industrial disputes is an industrial dispute in the United Kingdom involving Royal Mail and members of the Communication Workers Union , which began in the summer of 2009...
.
ITV
On 28 January 2010 it was announced Crozier would be leaving the Royal Mail later in 2010 to become the next permanent chief executive of media group ITV plcITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
. ITV plc is the operator of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
television network, the United Kingdom's oldest commercial network established in 1955, and the first funded by advertising but also with a public service mandate
Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom the term "public service broadcasting" refers to broadcasting intended for the public benefit rather than for purely commercial concerns. The communications regulator Ofcom, requires that certain television and radio broadcasters fulfil certain requirements as part of their...
, set up in order to compete with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Crozier was replacing Michael Grade
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
, who announced his intention to leave in April 2009. Crozier will be given the task of increasing ITV's advertising revenues which had fallen with the proliferation of new channels in the British television market. On announcing the appointment, ITV chairman Archie Norman
Archie Norman
Archibald John Norman is a British businessman and politician. He is at present the only FTSE 100 chairman to have sat in the House of Commons. On 18 November 2009, Norman was announced as the new chairman of ITV plc...
said of Crozier that he is a "very strong leader with a great track record in delivering transformational change."
Other roles
Crozier is also a board member of Camelot GroupCamelot Group
Camelot GroupCamelot is a private limited company, its entire share issue is owned by a single shareholder, as detailed above. are the operators of the UK National Lottery. Camelot Group was awarded the National Lottery franchise in 1993 and was re-awarded the franchise in 2001 and again in 2007...
, the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
operator, and the Debenhams
Debenhams
Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...
retail chain. He is also member of the President’s Committee of the Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
(CBI).
Personal life
Crozier is married to Annette, whom he met while working for Saatchi and SaatchiSaatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
and has two children. Despite having taken on high profile jobs involving pressing through major upheavals, he is described as "softly spoken" and has previously said of the spotlight, "I hate it, absolutely hate it. The bizarre thing about the last three jobs I've done is that I don't like [the public profile] at all. I will go to enormous lengths not to do public things - because it is just not me."