BBC Worldwide shakes up legal dept after shock exit

BBC Worldwide has overhauled its legal department and company secretary functions following the departure of corporate legal affairs director and company secretary Jonathan Holder in May.
The new post of group company lawyer will be taken by James Stevenson, who joins from Eckoh Techno-logies (formerly 365 Corpora-tion). He will also fill the company secretary position. Martyn Freeman has been promoted to take the new role of group head of legal affairs.
Stevenson, formerly company secretary at Eckoh, has been appointed on a permanent basis after originally joining the company in May as a temporary measure when Holder unexpectedly quit. Holder had been in the role for the past seven years.
Stevenson will head a corporate team of three, while Freeman's team of around 10 will handle BBC Worldwide's commercial deals.
The growing importance of corporate governance and the regulatory aspects of the company secretary function had begun to dominate Holder's dual role. Now that the role has been split, Freeman will be free to concentrate on deal-making. Stevenson will be responsible for corporate transactions, risk management, corporate governance and regulatory affairs.
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