Celador Radio has appointed former Orion Media CEO Phil Riley to the board as a non-executive director.
Phil was most recently Chairman of Orion Media before it was sold to Bauer Media in 2016.
Celador says it is delighted to welcome him in his new role as non-executive director, but hasn’t said if he’ll be tasked with any particular projects at the company.
Phil started his career in commercial radio in 1980 at BRMB, spending ten years in a number of roles but ultimately as Programme Controller. As Managing Director of Radio Aire from 1990 to 1994, he turned around the Leeds station from near bankruptcy to healthy profitability and was responsible for the launch of Radio Aire’s Magic 828 service.
Phil joined the Chrysalis Group in 1994 and, as Managing Director of the radio division, masterminded the launch of both 100.7 Heart fm in the West Midlands and Heart 106.2 in London. He was later promoted to the role of Chief Executive and joined the parent company board.
In 2007, Phil led the sale of the company to Global Radio, creating a profit on disposal of £95m. In 2009, backed by Private Equity Company LDC, he formed Orion Media and led the acquisition of eight AM/FM Midlands licences from Global Radio. He ran the businesses first as CEO and then Chairman, before the sale to Bauer Media in 2016.
Phil is a fellow of the Radio Academy and was recently named one of the forty most influential figures in commercial radio’s first forty years. In 2014, he was awarded the Arqiva ‘Special Award’ for his ‘outstanding and continuing leadership within the radio industry’.
Here he is chatting to RadioToday Deputy Editor Stuart Clarkson recently about the upcoming ARIAS, of which he is Chair of Judges:
