THE creator of dramas such as Hollyoaks, Grange Hill and Brookside banked more than £20 million yesterday after agreeing to sell his company to the firm behind Richard and Judy.
Phil Redmond, who founded Mersey Television in 1982 with his wife, Alexis, sold the business to All3Media for an estimated £40 million. The deal will make All3Media, headed by Steve Morrison, the former Granada chief executive, Britain’s largest independent television producer, with annual turnover of more than £200 million.
Mr Redmond, who started in television nearly 30 years ago, was appointed a CBE last week for his services to television.
He will stand down as Mersey chairman and his wife will resign as managing director, but he will remain executive producer of Grange Hill and will also offer creative ideas to All3Media. All3Media has appointed Carolyn Reynolds, the former controller of drama at Granada, as chief executive of Mersey. Mersey was majority-owned by the Redmonds, with Lloyds Development Capital a minority investor.
All3Media is known for productions such as Shameless, Midsomer Murders and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, as well as the Channel 4 teatime show Richard and Judy.