City veteran Ian Cheshire named as new chair of Ofcom

City veteran Ian Cheshire named as new chair of Ofcom Former Channel 4 chair and boss of Kingfisher to be appointed at crucial time for UK’s media regulator Business live – latest updates The UK media regulator Ofcom has named the City veteran Ian Cheshire as its next chair. Ofcom, which oversees the UK’s media and internet sectors, named Cheshire as its preferred candidate for chair on Wednesday. He will be formally appointed to the role for a four-year term once he has been approved in a parliamentary hearing. Cheshire, who was previously the boss of the B&Q owner, Kingfisher , served as the chair of Channel 4 until last year. The appointment comes at a critical moment for Ofcom amid concern over the rapid growth of online content and the rise of more politically partisan broadcasting . The regulator oversees the Online Safety Act, the legislation that regulates all social media in the UK. Cheshire said in a statement that across his career in e-commerce, telecoms and broadcasting he had “seen first-hand how much effective regulation matters – for consumers, for businesses and for the wider economy”. He said: “Ofcom has a critical job to do at a time of rapid change in how people communicate, access information and stay safe online. I look forward to setting out my vision for how Ofcom can meet those challenges when I appear before the select committee.” The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said Cheshire had a “proven track record of leading complex organisations through periods of significant change, and that is exactly the kind of leadership Ofcom needs right now”. Cheshire, who is also the chair of the FTSE 100 property group Landsec and has served on the boards of Barclays and Debenhams, has been chosen over the Labour MP and life peer Margaret Hodge and the former Conservative cabinet minister Jeremy Wright . He is expected to succeed the former BBC chair Michael Grade, who will stand down from the role at the end of the month. The chair of the regulator is...