Prior to that he was CEO of BBC Worldwide, responsible for their commercial activity whilst overseeing a comprehensive programme of diversification, and has also managed BT’s Consumer Division and served as Deputy MD of Dixons Stores, running the UK and Far East operations.
Rupert was appointed to run Odeon/UCI shortly after private equity group Terrafirma purchased the business and oversaw a period of dramatic technological and consumer change. He stepped down in 2014 to pursue a range of other challenges, but continues to advise the company.
He is currently a director of the Ambassador Theatre Group, the UK’s largest theatre group, and of Majid Al Futtaim Ventures, owners of a string of retail and leisure facilities in the Middle East. He also chairs West End theatre producers Incidental Colman.
Rupert’s keynote presentations consider Britain’s future source of global competitiveness, and the constraints in achieving it, both internally and externally. He also looks at the media consumer and the effect of live and shared experiences versus home and online consumption of entertainment, as well as what booming sales highlight about the psychology behind spending in a recession.
