BBC Trust appoints former Lloyds CEO

The BBC’s governing body, the BBC Trust, has appointed Nicholas Prettejohn, the former CEO of UK bank Lloyds.

Announcing the appointment, UK culture secretary Maria Miller said that Prettejohn’s “strong financial background will prove invaluable to the Trust.”

Prettejohn was formerly managing director of Lloyds’ business development unit, and between 1999 and 2005 was CEO. From 2006 to 2009 he was UK and European chief executive of life insurance and financial services firm Prudential. He has also held non-executive roles at Legal and General and Brit Insurance.

He becomes a BBC Trust Member for four-years, starting January 1, 2014.

The news comes after the Trust also last week appointed former Sony chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer to its executive board, announcing at the same time a major BBC management shakeup that would establish greater separation between the Trust and the BBC Executive, which looks after the day-to-day management of the BBC.

The BBC Trust is led by the Chairman and has 11 other members including the vice-chairman. It is responsible for representing the interests of licence fee payers and holds to account the executive board.