AO chair Cooper interviewed for Channel 4 chair job

The president of AO, the online electrical goods retailer, has been interviewed to go the adjacent seat of state-owned broadcaster Channel 4.

Sky News has learnt that Geoff Cooper, a erstwhile brag of the builders' merchant Travis Perkins, is among the candidates successful the moving to instrumentality connected the station successful the coming months.

Whitehall insiders said that Mr Cooper was present 1 of the shortlisted contenders awaiting quality of whether they would get the motion from Ofcom, the media regulator and civilization caput Lisa Nandy.

In caller weeks, Sky News has revealed that those vying to regenerate Sir Ian Cheshire see Justin King, the erstwhile J Sainsbury boss; Wol Kolade, a backstage equity enforcement who has donated important sums of wealth to the Conservative Party; Debbie Wosskow, a start-up laminitis who already sits connected the Channel 4 board.

Simon Dingemans, a erstwhile Goldman Sachs banker who sits connected the committee of WPP, the selling services group, has besides been shortlisted, according to the Financial Times.

Sir Ian stepped down earlier this twelvemonth aft conscionable 1 term, having presided implicit a palmy effort to thwart privatisation by the past Tory government.

He was replaced connected an interim ground by Dawn Airey, the media manufacture enforcement who has occupied apical jobs astatine companies including ITV, Channel 5 and Yahoo!.

The contention to pb the state-owned broadcaster's committee has acquired further value since aft the resignation of Alex Mahon, its long-serving main executive.

It has since been reported that Alex Burford, different Channel 4 non-executive manager and the brag of Warner Records UK, is simply a imaginable contender to regenerate Ms Mahon.

A vocal hostile of Channel 4's privatisation, which was abandoned by the past Conservative government, Ms Mahon is leaving to articulation Superstruct, a backstage equity-owned unrecorded amusement company.

The assignment of a caller seat is expected to instrumentality spot by the autumn, with the chosen campaigner expected to pb the recruitment of Ms Mahon's successor.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has declined to remark connected the recruitment process, portion Mr Cooper could not beryllium reached for comment.