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Who's in and who's out
Gideon Spanier, Evening Standard22 Sep 2008
The energy of London is nowhere more reflected than in the shifting balance of power among its thoughtmakers, trendsetters and leaders. Every week, Gideon Spanier looks at who's in and who's out.
ONE TO WATCH
MEDIA
Jay Hunt, 41
BBC1, controller
New boss of BBC1 is making her presence felt with some deft scheduling, using Strictly Come Dancing in the ratings war against rival ITV's X-Factor. Her brief is to make the channel appeal to younger viewers, telling producers to feel "creatively ambitious".
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
TV & RADIO
Ed Richards, 42
Ofcom, chief executive
Has serious clout. With a speech warning that Channel 4 may need to be given public funds, Richards appears to be pushing for the BBC licence fee to be top-sliced. Has already been keen to prove that Ofcom is not the toothless tiger it was once labelled by handing out some of the biggest fines in history to the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 over premium rate phone-in controversies.
DANCE
Akram Khan, 34
Choreographer, director, dancer
The Kazakh dancer is pushing boundaries with his latest project, in-i, a dance-theatre collaboration with French actress Juliette Binoche at the National. The show has got mixed reviews but a megawatt glow still surrounds Zero Degrees, Khan's duet with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, performed for the last time in New York in April.
NEW ON THE LIST
FINANCE
Eric Daniels, 57
Lloyds TSB, chief executive
Chain-smoking American boss of Lloyds TSB who has pulled off a coup by taking out rival bank HBOS in the credit crunch. During the years of excess, Daniels ignored the moves of others to expand into new markets. When they hit rock bottom, he pounced. Loves fly-fishing, opera, shopping for antiques and reading detective novels.
MAKING MOVES
FINANCE
Hector Sants, 52
Financial Services Authority, chief executive
Poacher turned gamekeeper, the City regulator surprised the markets with new diktat banning the short-selling of banking stocks - which helped towards a dramatic share prices rally. As an ex-Credit Suisse banker, he knows where all the City's skeletons are buried. After the FSA's slow response a year ago, he is showing the regulator now has some bite.
ART & DESIGN
Damien Hirst, 43
Artist
Raised the business of selling art to a whole new level with last week's auction of new work at Sotheby's, raising £111 million. Few other artists would dare to cut out the middle-men, the gallery owners, and it will make Hirst even richer. Owns Grade I-listed Toddington Manor near Cheltenham.
