Andy Duncan (born 31 July 1962) is CEO of Travelopia Holdings Limited, based in Crawley, UK. He was previously CEO of Camelot Limited (
Camelot Group
Camelot Group was an operator of lotteries, particularly the UK National Lottery from 1994 to 2024.
It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 2018. The Camelot Group companies, of wh ...
), the operator of the UK
National Lottery National Lottery may refer to:
*National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland
*National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom
*South African National Lottery, established in 2000
*A number of countries con ...
. Duncan started his career at Unilever – where he spent 17 years in a variety of senior managerial roles – before he was appointed director of Marketing, Communications and Audiences at the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
. Duncan then became chief executive of Britain's
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
television channel from July 2004 to November 2009 – the first not to have a background in programme making – and was the founding chairman of Freeview. After a year as CEO of
H.R. Owen
H.R. Owen is a luxury motor retailer in Britain, and one of the world's largest retailers in Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maserati, Lamborghini and Bugatti brands. The company is headquartered in London, and operates 18 sales fr ...
plc, the UK's leading luxury car business, he became UK managing director of Camelot in October 2011 and was subsequently appointed UK CEO in October 2014. Duncan was appointed President of the Advertising Association in January 2014.
Career in marketing
Duncan was educated at
Whitgift School
Whitgift School is an independent day school with limited boarding in South Croydon, London. Along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and Old Palace School it is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charitable trust. The school was prev ...
, an independent school in
South Croydon
South Croydon in south London is the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon and running as far south as the former Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is bounded by Waddon to the West and Selsdon and Sanderstead to the E ...
, London, and at
Manchester Institute of Technology, from which he graduated with a BSc in
management science
Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...
s.
In 1984 he joined
Unilever
Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
and worked his way up through the company. In 1995 Duncan was appointed
Van Den Bergh Foods business unit chairman and marketing controller for spreads and
margarine
Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...
s. He was responsible for the sponsorship of the
London Marathon
The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...
by one of his brands,
Flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
, a partnership that lasted 14 years. He also built the
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! is a brand of margarine,Calvani Terry. ''Antitrust Law Journal'', 1989, "Advertising Regulation: The States v. FTC. "...a nationally distributed butter substitute, 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.'") produced by ...
brand.
In 1997 he became Van Den Bergh Foods marketing director, and between January and December 1999 he was chairman of the
Tea Council.
In December 1999 he became European category director for Unilever's Foods and Beverages division, responsible for over €3 billion of turnover and around 10% of the corporation's global profits. . He was also a member of the Unilever's global category board.
Career
In 2001 Duncan joined the BBC as director of marketing and communications on the BBC Executive Board. In July 2003 his title changed to director of marketing, communications and audiences. He was also a member of the BBC commercial holdings board and Creative Board.
While at the BBC he was nicknamed "The Implementer" and was known for his informal style. He supervised the expansion of the corporation's digital output including the launches of BBC 3 and 4, and Cbeebies and became chairman of
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
*Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
*Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), a ...
, which took over the UK's digital terrestrial television service after the collapse of
ITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...
. To the surprise of many, Freeview became a fast-growing brand and in twenty months reached four million homes. It is now the UK's biggest digital TV platform and is in over 20 million homes. Duncan played a key role in the success of Freeview. . He was named Marketer of the Year in 2003.
On 1 July 2004 Duncan was appointed chief executive of
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
. He took up the job on 19 July 2004. During his time there he oversaw the company's emergence as a genuine multi-platform media business. Channel 4 was first broadcaster in the world to put its entire schedule online with the launch of its 4OD on-demand service in 2006. In addition, Channel 4's share of Total UK TV viewing grew from 10% to 12% and its share of the TV advertising market increased every year to a record 25% in 2009.
Duncan presided over the
''Celebrity Big Brother'' racism débacle, which provoked a record number of 45,000 complaints to
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
, the UK television watchdog. Ofcom found that Channel 4 had made "serious editorial misjudgements" in its handling of incidents involving Indian actress
Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty Kundra (born Ashwini Shetty, 8 June 1975) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Kannada and Telugu films. She made her screen debut in the thriller '' Baazigar'' (1993) which gained her first nomination for the Film ...
. Labour MP
Keith Vaz
Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz (born 26 November 1956) is a British politician who served as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East for 32 years, from 1987 Unit ...
, who led protests in Parliament over the issue, called for Duncan to resign. Duncan admitted publicly that lessons had been learnt and Channel 4 took steps to handle subsequent issues better. Under Duncan's leadership, Channel 4 also won record numbers of creative and marketing awards including 13 Oscars. Duncan left the channel in November 2009
Duncan then went on to become CEO of
H.R. Owen
H.R. Owen is a luxury motor retailer in Britain, and one of the world's largest retailers in Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maserati, Lamborghini and Bugatti brands. The company is headquartered in London, and operates 18 sales fr ...
plc, the UK's leading luxury car business, for a year from September 2010. In October 2011 he was appointed UK managing director of Camelot (
Camelot Group
Camelot Group was an operator of lotteries, particularly the UK National Lottery from 1994 to 2024.
It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 2018. The Camelot Group companies, of wh ...
), the operator of the UK
National Lottery National Lottery may refer to:
*National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland
*National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom
*South African National Lottery, established in 2000
*A number of countries con ...
. In this newly created role, Duncan was responsible for new game initiatives – such as the launch of the new Lotto game in October 2013 – and the development of a major new online and mobile platform, which launched in September 2014.
In April 2014 Duncan was appointed UK CEO of Camelot, effective 31 October 2014. In this role, he has overall responsibility for driving Camelot's strategy for growth through ongoing innovation. In addition, Duncan has been appointed to both the World Lottery Association (WLA) and European Lotteries (EL) Executive Committees, and chairs the WLA's Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.
Duncan chaired the Media Trust, a communications charity, from 2006 until 2014 and is now a trustee. He was on the board of HMV Group plc from March 2009 until early 2013. Duncan is also a trustee of
Oasis Trust
Oasis Charitable Trust, commonly known as Oasis, is a United Kingdom-based Christian registered charity. It was founded by the Reverend Steve Chalke in September of 1985. Chalke had been assistant minister at Tonbridge Baptist Church, Kent, for ...
, the social action charity, and was part of an advisory group for the British Museum's chairman and Director General from 2009 until 2014. He was appointed President of the Advertising Association in January 2014.
boss Andy Duncan named Advertising Association president" ''Marketing'' 5 December 2013
Retrieved 19 November 2014
External links
BBC news article on the Channel 4 appointment
''The Independent'' news article on the Channel 4 appointment
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Andy
1962 births
Alumni of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
BBC people
British businesspeople
Living people
People educated at Whitgift School
Unilever people
Alumni of the Manchester Business School