Purposeful People

I’m leaving the BBC after 37 years. I’m writing it down, so it must be true.

As you might imagine, I’ve been reflecting. Programmes, projects and passions come to mind, but it’s the people I really remember. I’ve been fortunate to work with the feted and the famous, but I want to tell you about just some of the remarkable colleagues and friends you may not know about. Those who performed ‘everyday miracles’ out of the spotlight and quietly made the BBC what it is.

My 13500 days at the BBC have been enriched by purposeful (and often unnoticed) people who went the extra mile, every time. Looking back, it strikes me they all had one thing in common – a profound understanding that the BBC is owned by everyone – and answers to everyone. You’ll see their names in bold as the story unfolds.

Let’s begin at the beginning…

Teenage Dreams

As a teenager, one of my musical heroes was Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera. All these years later, he’s still number one in my Spotify most-listened-to list. There’s a line in the title track of his acoustic album, Surf that reminds me of being 13 – finishing homework late in the evening beside the log-effect gas fire in the front room of our house in east London.

‘When I was young the radio played just for me. It saved me’.

Local radio presenters were my cool friends in a box: Rod Lucas on Radio Kent, Timbo on Essex Radio, Tommy Boyd on LBC, Robbie Vincent on Radio London. They created a world before social media, where the voiceless had a voice, unsung heroes took centre stage and the lives of ordinary people were shown to be extraordinary. I decided there and then I wanted to work in BBC Local Radio.

At 14, I set about doing everything I could think of to make it happen. First persuading the station manager at Goodmayes Hospital Radio that I would be a credible Sunday afternoon presenter, assisted by my ‘zoo’ friends Ian Courtier (as Mabel) and Dave Waddle (the gopher). The Wibbly Wobbly Wireless Show almost certainly had no listeners, but we loved it and learnt fast (I still have a collection of 120 C90 cassettes in the garage if you’re interested).

At 15, I won a record review competition run by Wavelength on BBC Schools Radio. The programme took over Radio Four’s FM frequencies on a weekday morning (I found out later that my critique of Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom album was one of only 3 entries). It was my first close-up experience of what makes the BBC special – attention to detail, values in action and a relentless focus on audiences. I only had a brief live slot with presenter, Andy Peebles (who was normally on Radio One) sandwiched between comedian Jim Davidson and Steve White from the Style Council. But the producer, Sarah took time to get to know me and to put me at ease. She explained how the programme stays true to Lord Reith by ‘educating, informing and entertaining young people in a unique way’. After the programme, Sarah and production assistant, Samantha both sent personal, hand-written notes. 40 years later, that experience has stayed with me and to this day, I continue to send hand-written notes to people I come across who go the extra mile.

My prize was to spend a day at a recording of Top of the Pops. Spandau Ballet were at number 1 with True and Culture Club were at 2 with Church of the Poisoned Mind. I brushed shoulders with the Kemp Brothers and chatted casually to Boy George and a bearded man in a beaver hat. Janice Long was the presenter, dressed randomly as Andy Pandy (it was the 80’s). Again, I was made to feel welcome and included by the BBC production team. But for me, that day on set at TV Centre in W12 was nowhere near as special as being in a small windowless radio studio in W1 with Andy, Jim and Steve. Nothing would change my mind – radio was where the magic happens and I wanted to be part of it.

My radio quest continued just after turning 17. When Capital Radio poached David ‘Kid’ Jensen from Radio One to present mid-mornings, my friend, Boyd and I secured an interview for our school magazine, Chronicles.

BBC Essex launched in the year I turned 18. I applied for the all-rounder role of Programme Assistant, fully prepared to give up my university place. A wise and warm senior producer, Martin Ward invited me to Chelmsford for what I now understand was a gentle coaching conversation to encourage me to ‘make the most of my educational opportunities before coming back with more experience when the time’s right’.

14 years later, I came back to Chelmsford to take charge of the station for a while.

Out of the Blue and On the Edge

It was a two mile walk from Queens’ College in the centre of Cambridge to Radio Cambridgeshire next to the Botanic Gardens; a return trip I made hundreds of times during my three years as a Law student. Thanks to amazing support from Ian Peacock, a gifted producer who backed and encouraged me from the start, I was soon presenting the Sunday afternoon student magazine programme, Out of the Blue. But the big break came when the station announced a ‘shake-up to Sunday evenings’ – the Radio One Top 40 followed by a no-holds-barred show for ‘young people’, On The Edge. To make things more exciting, it would be followed by the inimitable John Peel. Presenters for On the Edge were to be selected by audition. Hundreds applied, queuing along Hills Road. Perhaps as the only applicant with a foot in the door, I was selected to co-present with the brilliant Niki Burrell, a fellow student from Girton College who was a year above me.

Looking back, we had the time of our lives. John Peel always listened and gave us helpful feedback and we were encouraged by the brave and wonderful Margaret Hyde to take risks and not worry about making mistakes.

Margaret had been News Editor at Radio Merseyside during the Toxteth Riots. She was the best kind of boss – always putting listeners first and combining high challenge with total support for her team. It was tough love and it worked for me. Margaret was honest, direct and kind; profoundly kind. And she went the extra mile for listeners every day.

Seeing again the tape I’m holding in this picture for the Radio Times, reminds me of hours at reel-to-reel Studer machines with my trusty razor blade, surrounded by pre-cut pieces of thin white sticky tape. That tactile relationship with radio in pre-digital days, made the experience real and intimate.

Margaret continued to give me new opportunities. Here I am deputising as Saturday Breakfast presenter in my second year as a student, which meant leaving for work just as my peers were rolling back from nightclubs. None of them listened of course, but the college catering and cleaning staff loved Radio Cambridgeshire and were always ready with honest feedback on my fledgling performances!

After graduation, every one of my Law student contemporaries became lawyers, but nothing had changed my mind. I’ll never forget what Margaret said when she offered me an initial BBC staff contract for 6 months:

‘I appointed you not because of how good you are now, but because of how good you could be in the future. You need to do a lot of growing, but we’ll give you plenty of room to do that’

Later in this story, we’ll come across another one of my bosses who said something similar 16 years later, when appointing me to a very different role. Much has changed in the BBC since 1990, but the organisation’s commitment to developing and enabling people to do their best work remains the same.

From the subs bench to a place in the team

And so, with those words from Margaret and a signature on a contract, the teenage dream became a reality.

I loved my time at Radio Cambridgeshire. In those days every local station had its own branding. There was something warm and welcoming about our sunburst design. Although we were proudly part of the BBC, it felt like joining the best kind of family business.

I remember working late one evening and going up to the second floor to say goodbye to our Programme Organiser, Rowland Myers. He was an engineer by background who became an accomplished presenter before going into management. He loved the possibilities of sound. Rowland was a details man, a perfectionist who worked impossibly long hours. I’ve rarely come across someone as devoted to Local Radio and to the BBC’s public service mission. As I approached his office, Rowland was listening (and dancing) to the first cut of our new jingle package which he had especially commissioned to be performed by a full orchestra. He invited me to enjoy the new BBC Radio Cambridgeshire theme. Listening to it now takes me right back to long-departed presenters I admired and brings to mind the happiest of times.

Margaret was true to her word. Opportunities to grow kept coming, fast. Over the next few years I produced and presented everything on the schedule – sport, religion, late night, the request show, local and general elections. But it all started with a new four hour programme on Saturday mornings with a ridiculous title…

I like to think my comments in that Radio Times article were ironic rather than earnest, but can’t be sure.

The average age of our audience was around 60, but Margaret’s cunning plan was to market me as the ‘boy next door’ you would be happy for your child or grandchild to bring home for tea. I was undoubtedly green, but unquestionably keen. Within 6 months, the programme had the highest share of listening in Cambridgeshire at that time. I couldn’t have done it without the clarity of purpose, the audience focus and belief in me shown by the management team. Once again, I was given high challenge, freedom to take risks and total support.

It’s only while writing this blog, that I truly appreciate how Margaret and her management team enabled my continued growth by empowering me to innovate and take creative risks on behalf of our listeners. It felt spontaneous at the time, but I can now see there was a plan.

As weekday mid-morning producer I got total backing when I created with our presenter, Nick Barraclough ‘Up Yours’ – taking the show every Wednesday to the home of a listener who would produce 3 hours of live radio. The host listeners decided the guests, topics and music. It was seat-of-the pants drama. We came live from council flats, cottages and manor houses. In our opening programme, the Bishop of Ely, Ruth Madoc from Hi-de-Hi! and a professional string quartet all squeezed into a tiny kitchen in Barhill just off the A14. But it’s something that happened soon afterwards that makes me squirm all these years later…

We were invited to a lovely family home in a village. The parents, both leading lights in the local community, had carefully produced the programme to give airtime to charities and voluntary organisations. Mum had taken the day off work. Dad had to be be in the office, but had gathered his team around the radio to listen. Both children, a boy aged 9 and a girl 11, had been given permission to be out of school for the morning to take part, with their classmates listening in. All was going well until a planned live sequence at 1030 when the boy would take us on a tour of the house. In the spare room, he proudly showed me a telescope. When I reasonably asked about stargazing, he corrected me with a stage whisper into the mic:

‘When my mum’s out of the house and my dad thinks no one’s watching, he turns off the lights and watches the lady who lives over the back get undressed’

I’ve never changed the subject so quickly.

Perhaps my most profound relationship at Radio Cambridgeshire was with Trevor Littlechild. Trevor was the managing director of a cleaning business who had become a freelance radio presenter later in life.

On the face of it, Trevor and I were very different – in age, background and beliefs. But we had something powerful in common – an understanding that working for the BBC – and for BBC Local Radio in particular – was a privilege. Trevor came to radio in his fifties (to present a nostalgia programme, Time Was). I started in my teens. Our professional relationship and growing friendship had mutual benefits. I learnt from Trevor’s wisdom and perspective; Trevor shared with me the things he wish he’d appreciated at my age and enjoyed the energy in our relationship.

The management team noticed the strength of our growing partnership and asked us to co-present a new Sunday morning show built on our differences and shared values. Trevor seemed like an old man to me then. Writing this makes me realise he was about a year older than I am now.

After we had been presenting together for a while, Trevor told me in confidence that he had cancer. As he put it, ‘I’ll be carrying on, but I’m carrying on knowing it’s the end of the road‘. We left Sunday mornings, but Trevor continued presenting Time Was on Saturday evenings. As Trevor got weaker and his voice became thinner, I took care of the studio controls. He asked me to make him a promise – that when his performance fell below what his treasured listeners deserve, I would make the decision that he had presented his last show. One Saturday evening, after a painstakingly prepared programme about the Players’ Theatre, I knew the moment had come:

‘That programme was one of the finest you have ever presented. And it was your last’

Trevor smiled, thanked me and asked me to look after his precious personalised record box. It’s beside me as I write.

Trevor appeared on Radio Cambridgeshire one final time. In the spirit of the creative, risk-taking culture encouraged by Margaret, I asked Trevor if he would be prepared to present his own hour-long obituary. We recorded it soon after the definitive diagnosis. Around thirty friends and listeners took part; some had known him for half a century. True to form, Trevor insisted the programme was a love letter to the strength of BBC Local Radio. It ended with a message to the next generation (which I know was also a message to me):

‘Just because there’s snow on the roof, it doesn’t mean there’s not still fire in the belly’

Hundreds were there for Trevor’s funeral at St Laurence’s Catholic Church in Milton Road, including many loyal listeners. Speakers were put up in the car park for those who couldn’t get in. I gave the eulogy after presenting Breakfast that morning.

I want to mention briefly the best part for me about working in BBC Local Radio – meeting listeners.

If I close my eyes, I can still hear the voices of our regulars who ‘phoned in – Margaret from Red Lodge, Ken from Madingley, Lionel from Soham, Irene from Dogsthorpe….

My favourite time of year was our Christmas Auction weekend when we got to put faces to voices as people came to collect their goodies and we took time to chat. They felt to me like members of an extended family. Many sent cards when our sons were born and some continued to remember their birthdays years later.

So far in my career, I’d been allowed to have my cake and eat it – to present and report while beginning to manage others as a side-line. I’d managed to keep one hand tightly gripped on the microphone, while dabbling with leadership. On reflection, I was in denial about having to address what was being said to me by management – ‘You’re a good presenter, but you might be a better manager‘.

As I’ve said to countless colleagues since:

‘Leadership is a choice. You need to step into it consciously and decide to commit to others’

Over the next few years, that’s what I tried to do with faltering steps. It’s been a satisfying, frustrating, energising and exhausting experience. I’ve failed (very) often, but am grateful for the people who caught me when I fell and made it worthwhile.

The next couple of years in my leadership ‘apprenticeship’ in the East went by quickly, perhaps too quickly: Senior Producer and Assistant Editor in Cambridge, Acting Editor in Essex (thank you, Martin – see above), TV reporting at Look East, Editor at Three Counties Radio in Luton (with a truly wonderful group of dedicated and talented people who were patient with my baby steps into management) and then back to Cambridge as Executive Editor with responsibility for local radio and regional TV Newsgathering. A brief mention here for David Holdsworth (then Head of BBC East and later Controller English Regions), a man of intelligence and integrity. Another senior leader who knew the BBC is owned by everyone and answers to everyone.

Heading West

At 33, I applied to be Head of BBC West based in Bristol. I’d been told the job probably had someone else’s name on it, so went to Pebble Mill in Birmingham for the interview feeling more bullish than nervous.

One of the early questions from Pat Loughrey, Director of Nations and Regions warmed up the conversation:

‘This is a tough job with tough challenges. You’ve only ever worked in the East and have no experience of any other region. What would they make of you in the West?’

I gave a potentially risky reply:

‘You’ve only ever worked for the BBC in Northern Ireland and yet you were appointed to run England, Wales and Scotland. What do you think we’re making of you?’

The risk paid off. Pat laughed and we went on to have a helpful discussion about leadership. I got the job after a second interview.

The BBC has been broadcasting from its home in Whiteladies Road in Bristol for more than 90 years. When I arrived in 2001, there were around 900 staff and freelancers and there was a sense of both pride in the heritage and passionate commitment to the future. I was responsible for local and regional content, but there was strong collaboration with network output – the Natural History Unit, Network Radio and Factual TV including Antiques Roadshow, Bargain Hunt and later Countryfile and Gardeners’ World. It was a place of ambition and innovation, energy and excellence

As a rookie senior leader, I was surrounded by colleagues with experience and expertise I didn’t have, most of whom had perfected their craft over decades: engineers, directors, producers, journalists and presenters. I was incredibly fortunate to have such an experienced and dedicated management team to guide me and make things happen and to have Andy Griffee as my boss. Andy was direct to my face, demanding the very best for our audiences, but he always had my back when I wasn’t in the room.

Radio Bristol’s Roger Bennett was the BBC’s longest-serving local radio presenter and Chris Vacher of Points West held the same record for regional TV. It took me a while to make the transition from Radio Cambridgeshire, where I could do every job on the station, to BBC West where the opposite was true. It was a lesson in leadership in real time: that my job is to create the environment for others to thrive in their work, not to prove I could do the work myself. It took me too long to change my mindset. But that’s a subject for another time…

It didn’t take me long however to feel deeply committed emotionally to BBC West and to our local teams in Gloucestershire, Somerset, Bristol, Bath and Wiltshire. It was made easy by brilliant people who went the extra mile for audiences, forever restless about making things better. Those in front of cameras and microphones usually got the credit, but the region was blessed with remarkable people behind the scenes who maintained high standards with quiet, focused and patient determination.

Chris Vacher, at the time the BBC’s longest-serving regional TV presenter embodied the best of BBC West: supportive of colleagues, devoted to local audiences and unfailingly kind. He too helped to remind us all that we are lucky to be here, that we’re owned by everyone and accountable to everyone.

That approach informed everything that happened; every day.

For example, we knew that our audiences were proud of the part they and their families played in the Concorde story. When she was about to fly over Bristol for the last time, our passionate TV editors Jane and Steph sprang into action, partnering with others to produce a lovingly-made souvenir video that made the most of expertly-produced BBC content. As local people queued around the block to get their copy, our radio and TV presenters met them all to listen to family stories and to thank them for their support.

At every opportunity, BBC teams in the West got close to our audiences, listening hard to get a deeper understanding of what really mattered to them. From Yeovil to Cheltenham, from the Forest of Dean to Swindon, from Bristol to Bath, they never forgot that we exist to listen and to serve. And often, curious conversations sparked new ideas.

This is one of many examples of creative output that came from getting closer and listening more deeply. It happened after a chance encounter with Clive Smith at the St Paul’s Carnival.

Being truly accountable to audiences isn’t easy. Perhaps my trickiest time as Head of BBC West was spent in the High Court defending a no win/no fee libel action taken out against our journalism and our senior journalist, Health Correspondent Matthew Hill (see below for an extract from the Guardian report). It wasn’t an easy decision for the BBC to spend public money, licence payers’ money defending the action, but Deputy DG and Director of Journalism, Mark Byford backed us specifically because we are owned by everyone and accountable to everyone. Sometimes that means standing up to fight for what is right.

During the trial I was taught a powerful lesson about ‘alchemy’ from our lead barrister, Andrew Caldecott KC. Before the first day in court, he reminded us that we are representing the BBC and its values at all times. That meant respecting everyone in the court (particularly the other side), being courteous and punctual, taking time to get every detail right and constantly listening hard to make sure nothing is missed.

Winning, he said comes from a precious alchemy which is:

‘99% hard work and 1% inspiration that comes from hard work put in’.

I adapted Andrew‘s words for my leaving speech when moving on from BBC West:

‘People walking past this building along Whiteladies Road might look inside and think we must have wonderful jobs where we can be creative and fulfilled every day. They would be right, but we all know something else – that wonderful creativity and professional fulfilment only comes from resilience and tough and repetitive hard work. Many here do that kind of work in the background every day’

As I left, a member of the TV Operational team with 25 years’ experience told me I’d said it right, but should have said it much earlier. She was spot-on of course.

Hutton

A crisis for the BBC unexpectedly changed everything for me. Hutton led to the loss of a DG and Chairman and the setting up of the BBC College of Journalism in response to an independent report.

As I watched events unfold from Bristol, I never expected to be tasked with this…

I was partly appointed because I’d never worked in the London newsroom. Most new BBC journalists were recruited in the nations and regions of the UK.

The new role was seen as a development opportunity, perhaps something I might do for two or three years, before returning to an editorial job. But I was soon to realise that I’d stumbled into something that energised me more than anything else – developing people.

And I had a remarkable new boss.

Vin Ray has the kind of quiet, self-deprecating wisdom that draws you in. His presence is Yoda-meets-University Professor. Vin’s style is all about empowering, rather than directing; trusting rather than micro-managing. And in the relentless busyness, he consciously makes time to think and reflect.

I mentioned earlier what Margaret said when setting up my first BBC contract. Vin said something different, but related when I made the leap to the College of Journalism:

‘I appointed you because you’re good. Because you’re good, I trust you to get on with things. But if a rain cloud is about to come my way, I expect you to let me know in good time’

Vin was true to what he said at the start. There were to be several approaching rain clouds, some of them ominous. But mostly we were ready for them in advance.

It’s all about the People

Like many football managers, I wanted a team of trusted and brilliant people around me. The picture below shows me with two former colleagues from BBC West who joined near the start – Jane Kinghorn who ran TV News as one half of a job-share and Tony Worgan (a fellow Roddy Frame fan) who was in charge at BBC Wiltshire. I had known Tony since my student days when he was my trainer on a radio course. We were soon joined by Kate Williams, an experienced journalist and news presenter from Five Live who had worked on major national and international stories; another ‘extra mile’ colleague devoted to helping others to grow.

The stakes for our small team were high – eyes were on us, there was resistance to what we were offering and some were looking for us to fail. But together we created an experience that had a powerful and lasting impact on new journalists across the UK and around the world. Soon we struggled to meet demand. Thanks to our amazing team, we never stopped innovating – even when it came to a session on team effectiveness using hoops, tennis balls and the Benny Hill theme tune!

The greatest strength of the Journalism Foundation (first focused on new journalists and then extended to new editors) came from the diversity in every cohort. Journalists from all parts of the BBC worked together for 5 long days, opening up to each other about their own fears and challenges and about what the BBC meant to them. Our first groups included participants from the Persian, Arabic and Gaelic services, from Local Radio and Newsnight, Newsbeat and the World Service. Before the course, most had only met people from their own team. Our aim was to get them working together to be articulate ambassadors for each other and for BBC journalism as a whole. We set out to inspire ‘confident humility’. Confidence about your role in delivering the BBC’s public service mission and humility about serving all audiences.

One of the many joys of the Journalism Foundation was bringing in respected journalists to work alongside us, all of whom were motivated by putting something back and by developing the next generation. They kept us in touch with what was going on at the coalface. Kate (Five Live), James (Network Sport), Angelina (Northern Ireland TV News), Richard (Five Live and World Service), Sue (Radio Current Affairs), John (BBC Local), Mia (BBC Local), Roger (Radio Four News and PM), Claire (Journalism Trainee Scheme and Network TV News), David (World Service Africa) and Sharon (Young Reporter and BBC Local). They (and many others) all took their turn, brought their unique expertise and experience and committed wholeheartedly.

It was an exhilarating, but exhausting experience, travelling around the UK and internationally to deliver such an intensive programme, but I will never forget those times. The content had to be current (we always used right-up-to-the-minute examples), but it was how the team members behaved in the training room that made the biggest impact – with honesty, humility and infectious humour. There were always moments of uncontrollable laughter – and plenty of (positive) tears.

Thanks to the team’s success and growing reputation, we commercialised the editorial leadership part of the Journalism Foundation, delivering to leading public media organisations in Ireland, Scandinavia, South Korea, Singapore, the USA and (shown below) Hong Kong. We were constantly reminded of the BBC’s trusted reputation globally for impartiality, independence and working in the public (as opposed to the national) interest.

As you can see, we allowed ourselves some time off occasionally…

My BBC career started by focusing on one small special part of one BBC division. My world was defined by audiences in Cambridgeshire. In Bristol, I loved and cherished the West of England and at the College of Journalism, I focused on our journalists, wherever they were based in the UK or globally. Then came opportunities to work commercially for the BBC in countries I had never visited before. Finally, our team was given responsibility for all leadership development, coaching and mentoring across the BBC which meant working closely with 2500 leaders from every division; from first-time managers to the Executive Board. I’ve been able to zoom in and zoom out and zoom in again. The job’s given me a privileged opportunity to listen deeply to our leaders close-up. One thing I can say for certain is that it’s much more than a job for all of them. They are driven by a purpose, by a mission to serve audiences that really matters to each and every one.

Through it all, I’ve tried to keep in mind Margaret’s words to me when I signed that first contract – by giving people space to grow and develop to reach their potential.

In the past year, the wheels of change turned again. Having designed and delivered everything in-house within our team, the decision was made to contract out leadership development. We’ve appointed wise, wonderful, world-class partners to work with the BBC, but it’s meant saying goodbye to four exceptional colleagues with 120 years’ BBC experience between them – and then forming a new team of leadership development consultants.

Here we are – Trisha, Andrew, Chetna, Molly and David.

Soon I’ll disappear from this picture when I leave the BBC. The Fabulous Four are already doing brilliantly without me as I knew they would. Waters close fast at the BBC when people leave – as they should.

It falls to the purposeful people still standing to carry the flame.

The next chapter

37 years at the BBC sounds like a long time, but I’ve been lucky to work across the whole organisation with colleagues from every team in every place. My memories of the student years at Radio Cambridgeshire are as vivid as what happened last month. On the one hand, everything has changed for a cash-strapped BBC, often under fire in a fast-moving digital world. But on the other, important things have stayed the same: the BBC is owned by everyone, is accountable to everyone and there are passionate, purposeful people going the extra mile every day to give value to everyone.

I’ve spent much of my time at the BBC sharing with colleagues what I wish I had known when I started. Now I’m wondering what my 15 year old self in the picture above would say to the old man in the picture below.