Adam Crozier | |
|---|---|
 Adam Crozier speaking at the Nations & Regions Media Conference in 2012 | |
| Born | (1964-01-26)26 January 1964 (age 61) Isle of Bute, Scotland |
| Education | Graeme High School |
| Alma mater | Heriot-Watt University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Known for | Post Office scandal |
| Title | CEO ofSaatchi & Saatchi(1995–99) CEO ofThe FA(2000–02) CEO ofRoyal Mail(2003–10) CEO ofITV(2010–17) Chairman ofWhitbread(2018–present) Chairman ofBT Group(2021–present) |
| Spouse | Annette Crozier |
| Children | 2 |
Adam Alexander Crozier (born 26 January 1964)[1] is a Scottish business executive and chairman ofWhitbread andBT Group. He was formerly the chief executive ofITV plc.[2] After a career atSaatchi & Saatchi culminating in the role of joint chief executive in 1995, he came to wide public prominence as the new chief executive ofThe Football Association in 2000, before in 2003 becoming the chief executive of theRoyal Mail Group until 2010.
Crozier was born and raised on theIsle of Bute on the west coast of Scotland in 1964.[3][4] His father was a manager forLord Bute, and his mother was secretary to the managing director ofThe Scotsman. Crozier went to a school inAyr, before moving toGraeme High School, a comprehensive school inFalkirk.[3] He graduated with aBachelor of Arts degree (BA) in business organisation fromEdinburgh'sHeriot-Watt University.[3] While at school, Crozier had trials with bothHibernian andStirling Albion football clubs.[3]
Crozier received an honorary doctorate fromHeriot-Watt University in 2005.[5]
Crozier joinedPedigree Petfoods as a graduate trainee in 1984. In 1986, he moved toThe Daily Telegraph to work in media sales.[3]
From 1988 to 1999 Crozier worked for advertising agencySaatchi and Saatchi, becoming media director in 1990, and then being appointed as joint chief executive from 1995 alongsideTamara Ingram.[3][6] This occurred in the wake of the departure of the founding Saatchi brothers to formM&C Saatchi.[3]
Crozier came to public attention as the surprise appointment to the role of chief executive ofThe Football Association, the governing body ofEngland's national game, football, aged just 35 and having had no experience of business in football.[7] He replacedGraham Kelly. In his short tenure from 2000 to 2002, the FA relocated headquarters fromLancaster Gate toSoho Square, appointed the first ever foreignEngland national team manager, SwedeSven-Göran Eriksson, and became a more commercial organisation, maximising its revenues. He also reduced the average age of the FA's staff from 55 to 32, progressed theWembley Stadium redevelopment, and reduced the FA's ruling body from a 91-member FA Board to a committee of 12.[3][7] His moves were not without criticism, with complaints from some about lack of consultation and of acting beyond his powers.[7] He was replaced byMark Palios.
While at the FA, Crozier reportedly identified some members of the England national team as theGolden Generation.[8] It was a term later criticised towards the end of the decade by some England players as having been undeserved, and of causing undue expectations and pressure due to the fact they had at the time, and in years since, failed to win major tournaments.[8][9]
Crozier became the chief executive of theRoyal Mail Group in February 2003.[6][10] Entering the post, Crozier described his remit as the "biggest corporate turnaround programme in the UK".[7] Crozier initiated a programme of modernisation and reform, to deal with changes in the service brought about by reforms beginning with thePostal Services Act 2000.[10]
In Crozier's first three years, the Royal Mail division produced record annual profits of £537m in May 2005, making £2m a day in profits, up from £1.5m a day losses before he joined.[11] The Group overall had been transformed from recording losses of £1.1bn at the start of the turnaround plan in 2002 into a profit of £355m in 2005.[3] Royal Mail chairmanAllan Leighton said it was a "fantastic turnaround" but also that there was still "a huge amount to do".[11] The newly formed mail regulatorPostwatch were however critical that it had failed to achieve 11 of its 15 licence targets during the previous financial year.[10] As the postal service was opened up to competition in early 2006, Royal Mail recorded losses of £10m in 2006 and £279m in 2007.[11]
His reforms included highly controversial large scale post office closures in the thousands, layoffs of Royal Mail staff, changes in working practices, and the ending of the second daily delivery and moving the first daily delivery to later in the day.[3][11][12][13] While at the Royal Mail, Crozier's salary, one of the largest in the country for the head of a publicly owned body, was criticised in light of the changes being made to the Royal Mail workforce.[11][12][13] Ongoing reforms eventually led to large scale industrial disputes and strike action in both2007 and2009 onwards.
Crozier was CEO of Royal Mail at a crucial period in thePost Office scandal when the Post Office was still part of Royal Mail, in which hundreds of sub-postmasters were falsely accused of, and prosecuted for, theft or false accounting. Prosecutions were conducted based on revenue shortfalls identified by the Post Office's Horizon computer system. These were erroneous and the result of bugs and errors in the system.[14] Post Office officials knew about the bugs as early as 2002, but chose to continue with the prosecutions regardless.[15][16]
In May 2024, the Financial Times reported that Crozier had received letters from at least four Members of Parliament about problems with the Horizon system, and their consequences for sub-postmasters, while he was at the Royal Mail. This was despite Crozier having testified under oath at the on-going Post Office Inquiry that he "was not aware of the tragic situation for Post Office sub-postmasters and their families during my time at Royal Mail."[17]
Crozier left the Royal Mail in 2010 to become the chief executive of media groupITV plc.[18][19]
ITV plc is one of three partners within ITV Network Limited, the not-for-profit organisation which runs theITV television network, the United Kingdom's first commercial network effectively created under theTelevision Act 1954. Crozier was replacingMichael Grade, who announced his intention to leave in April 2009.[19] Crozier was given the task of increasing ITV's advertising revenues which had fallen with the proliferation of new channels in theBritish television market.[19] On announcing the appointment, ITV chairmanArchie Norman said of Crozier that he is a "very strong leader with a great track record in delivering transformational change".[19]
In ITV's 2023-4 docu-dramaMr Bates vs The Post Office, ITV failed to make mention of the role of Crozier in the unfolding seven years of theBritish Post Office scandal, prior to the reins being handed over in 2010 to his successor CEOPaula Vennells.[20] At the time Crozier was Royal Mail CEO, the Post Office was, in effect, a division thereof.[20][21]
Crozier was also a board member ofCamelot Group, the former operator of the UKNational Lottery, and theDebenhams retail chain, before it was liquidated.[6] He is also member of the President's Committee of theConfederation of British Industry (CBI).[6] He joined the board ofWhitbread in 2017, becoming a senior independent director that year. In 2018 he succeeded the retiringRichard Baker as Whitbread's chairman.[22]
Crozier was the chairman ofVue Cinemas from 2017 to 2020,[23] and the chair ofASOS plc from 2018 to 2021.[24]
In February 2020 Crozier was appointed non-executive chairman ofKantar Group.[25]In December 2021, he became chairman ofBT, replacingJan du Plessis.[26]
Crozier is married to Annette, whom he met while working forSaatchi and Saatchi, and has two children.[3] Despite having taken on high-profile jobs involving pressing through major upheavals, he is described as "softly spoken" and has previously said of the spotlight, "I hate it, absolutely hate it. The bizarre thing about the last three jobs I've done is that I don't like [the public profile] at all. I will go to enormous lengths not to do public things – because it is just not me."[3]
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Scott | CEO ofSaatchi & Saatchi 1995–99 With:Tamara Ingram | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | CEO ofThe Football Association 2000–02 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by John Roberts | CEO ofRoyal Mail 2003–10 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | CEO ofITV 2010–17 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman ofWhitbread 2018–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Chairman ofBT Group 2021–present | Incumbent |