Roger Flynn

Roger Flynn was Chief Executive of BBC Ventures Group Ltd and a member of the BBC’s Executive Committee between 2001 and 2004, reporting directly to the DG, Greg Dyke. Flynn joined the BBC Executive Team during one of the most eventful times in BBC history; the Hutton affair, the launch of Freeview, the battles with Sky and the rejuvenation of BBC1.

As Chief Executive of the commercial media services group with 4,500 staff, Roger transformed the capabilities from Public Service back office to commercial businesses, grew revenues rapidly, dramatically changed the customer relationship, innovated product offerings and drove the successful £0.5bn sale of BBC Technology.

Prudential:

Prior to that Roger was Managing Director of Prudential Retail, a subsidiary of Prudential plc. Between 1998 and 2000 he was responsible for the UK retail business including the Prudential brand, with a sales turnover of £2bn, 6 million customers and 6,000 staff. He created and implemented a strategy to transform the economics, culture and infrastructure of the company.

He drove a major business transformation including an exhilarating and exhausting culture change and launched new products. Roger was involved in the wider UK activity driven by Sir Peter Davis and Jonathan Bloomer including the development of new UK businesses such as Scottish Amicable, M&G and the launch of Egg.

British Airways:

Before joining Prudential, Roger Flynn was General Manager of World Sales & Distribution at British Airways. Roger joined BA during the $1bn dirty-tricks lawsuit claim by Virgin and worked during the transition from Lord Colin Marshall to Bob Ayling through; the aggressive expansion strategy, aggressive retraction strategy, strike, launch of Go, launch of new First and Club World products, reconstruction of the distribution value chain including tackling the costs of third party distribution alongside launching new direct channels like the internet.

He developed British Airways’ first website and created an award winning e-commerce capability selling in 72 countries, integrated with telephone sales. He was responsible for sales strategy, sales effectiveness and all distribution functions, generating revenues of £6bn.

Virgin:

Roger Flynn’s first senior management position was with Virgin Communications Ltd (Virgin International Media Group), working directly for Sir Richard Branson  He was responsible for the financing and business performance monitoring of the group, new business ventures and latterly the commercial aspects.

Roger was heavily involved in the media businesses including the joint venturing and sale of Virgin Records to EMI, the launch of Virgin Radio, the rapid development and sale of Virgin Interactive Entertainment amongst many other things between 1988 and 1995.

Roger Flynn has proven management skills at the highest level and has worked directly for Sir Richard Branson and Greg Dyke, two of the most respected business leaders in the UK.

Keynote Speaker:

As a keynote speaker, his speaking topics include:

• Change
• Corporate Culture
• Leading Cultural Change
• Strategy
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Building Strong Teams
• Customer Service

Roger recruited very capable senior people into the BBC businesses and, with Greg Dyke, was a key player in the company-wide change programme. He galvanised the Prudential team around a common goal and led a cultural change programme.

Creating a customer-focused culture. He focused the businesses on the customer at the BBC and drove a customer-focused culture at Prudential.

Challenging existing business models and implementing new strategies. Roger implemented new economic and cultural model in Prudential. He challenged and changed the commission structures in the airline industry while at British Airways and he launched a number of businesses at Virgin that challenged the existing market leaders.