Ashley Highfield

Ashley Highfield is CEO of one of the largest media groups in the UK, Johnston Press, owners of The Scotsman, The Yorkshire Post and (from April 2016) i (newspaper). He has also worked for Microsoft and the BBC. In June 2015 Culture Secretary John Whittingdale named Highfield as one of eight people on an advisory board tasked with working on the renewal of the BBC's royal charter - which sets out the corporation's remit. In October 2015 he was appointed Chairman of the News Media Association.

Educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, and City University, London, Highfield joined Coopers & Lybrand, (now PwC) on graduation, working as a management consultant in the TMT sector for six years. In 1994 he returned to the UK to become head of IT and New Media for NBC Europe, before joining Flextech - a pay-TV channel provider - where he worked for five years as director of interactive services.

In October 2000 he joined the BBC as Director of New Media & Technology working for Greg Dyke who said in his autobiography Inside Story "Ashley is one of the most inventive people I know". Dyke also said "Ashley didn't have an easy task bringing all the BBC's online activity under one division, but he did it with great success".

In 2005, under new Director General Mark Thompson, Highfield retained his place on the new slimmed-down Executive Board and was given additional responsibility for Broadcast and Production technology across the BBC. In July 2006 the BBC reformed its structure, turning the New Media department into the Future Media & Technology department (including BBC's Information & Archives business) with Highfield at its head. During his tenure, Highfield oversaw a growth in the BBC's online presence from 3.5 million to 17 million users, and was responsible for the development and launch of BBC iPlayer.

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