Asked late last year what he hoped to do next, Lord Birt replied: “(I) hope there are nexts.”
The 61-year-old former Director-General of the BBC proved yesterday that there were, with his appointment as chairman of Waste Recycling Group, the waste management company owned by Terra Firma, the private equity group run by Guy Hands.
Since leaving the BBC in 2000 after a controversial term at the top of the corporation, Lord Birt has taken on a string of part-time roles, advising the Prime Minister, private equity groups and McKinsey & Co, the management consultancy. He was also a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.
His recent career is in stark contrast to his early career as a television producer. A father of two, Lord Birt grew up in Liverpool and went on to study engineering at Oxford. He enjoys walking and watching football.