Sir David Arculus (born 1946) is a British media figure,
businessA business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the business itself...
man and advisor to Government who has appeared several times in
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
Power 100, ranked at number 39 in 2005.
Educated at
Bromsgrove SchoolBromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England.-History:It was first recorded in 1476 as a chantry school and was re-established as a Tudor Grammar School between 1548 and 1553...
and Oriel College,
University of OxfordThe University of Oxford , located in the UK city of Oxford, is the oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and is regarded as one of the world's leading academic institutions. Although the exact date of foundation remains unclear, there is evidence of teaching there as far back...
and the
London Business SchoolLondon Business School is a leading international business school and a constituent college of the University of London. It is considered to be one of the world’s most highly regarded business schools and its flagship MBA program is frequently ranked among the global top five...
, he started his career as a writer and was a producer for the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
from 1968 to 1974. He joined
EMAPEMAP is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
in 1972, and took it from being a small regional newspaper publisher to a large media group.
Sir David Arculus (born 1946) is a British media figure,
businessA business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the business itself...
man and advisor to Government who has appeared several times in
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
Power 100, ranked at number 39 in 2005.
Educated at
Bromsgrove SchoolBromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England.-History:It was first recorded in 1476 as a chantry school and was re-established as a Tudor Grammar School between 1548 and 1553...
and Oriel College,
University of OxfordThe University of Oxford , located in the UK city of Oxford, is the oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and is regarded as one of the world's leading academic institutions. Although the exact date of foundation remains unclear, there is evidence of teaching there as far back...
and the
London Business SchoolLondon Business School is a leading international business school and a constituent college of the University of London. It is considered to be one of the world’s most highly regarded business schools and its flagship MBA program is frequently ranked among the global top five...
, he started his career as a writer and was a producer for the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
from 1968 to 1974. He joined
EMAPEMAP is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
in 1972, and took it from being a small regional newspaper publisher to a large media group. He was involved in launching many new magazines – for instance,
Smash HitsSmash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at children and young teenagers, and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
, a journal that printed words to pop songs, which went from an initial circulation of 10,000 to one million within a year, which provided the cash which helped Emap to subsequently become a leader in the world of business communications encompassing magazines, events, exhibitions and data products.
As a result of these successes Arculus worked his way up to Group Managing Director in 1989, leaving Emap in 1997.
He subsequently became Chief Operating Officer of United News and Media and then became Chairman of IPC Media which at the time was Britain’s largest management buy-out. Arculus also headed
Earls CourtEarls Court is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It is an inner-city district centred on Earl's Court Road and surrounding streets, located 3.1 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It borders the sub-districts of South Kensington to the East, West...
and Olympia Ltd and is a Non-Executive Director of
PearsonPearson may refer to:In places:*Pearson, California** Pearson, San Joaquin County, California** Pearson, Yuba County, California*Pearson, Georgia, a US city*Pearson, Texas, an unincorporated community in the US...
plc.
Away from the media sector, he was a Non-Executive Director of
Severn TrentSevern Trent plc is a British public utility. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.Severn Trent is a group of companies employing more than 15,000 people across the UK, US and mainland Europe....
plc from 1996, serving as Chairman from 1998 until 2004. Arculus held a range of further non-executive jobs of which perhaps the most noteworthy was Barclays Bank plc from 1997 to 2006.
He joined the Board of
O2O2, o2, O2, or O2 may refer to:-Places:* The O2 , a large entertainment district in London developed within the former Millennium Dome...
plc in 2003, and in 2006 as Chairman was responsible with the management team for the sale of O2 to
TelefónicaTelefónica, S.A., is a Spanish telecommunication company. Operating globally, it is one of the largest fixed-line and mobile telecommunications companies in the world: 3rd in terms of number of clients only behind China Mobile and Vodafone, and in the top five in market value...
of Spain. At £18bn this was the largest cash deal ever done in Europe, and the second biggest in the world. He remains a Director of O2 plc and also of Telefonica and currently leads a number of private equity backed businesses mainly in the media field.
From 2002 to 2006 Arculus was Tony Blair’s "Red Tape Czar" as Chairman of the British Government’s Better Regulation Task Force, where he helped bring about a number of regulatory initiatives intended to reduce burdens on business. These included improved impact assessments; the introduction of common commencement dates and the measurement of administrative burden in the UK economy which led to government imposing a 25% red tape reduction across all departments. He also led the effort during the UK Presidency to reduce EU bureaucratic burdens which resulted in the notable claim from MEPs that "the European Parliament now has nothing to do".
Sir David Arculus is currently Chairman of
ExCeL Exhibition CentreExCeL London is an exhibitions and conference centre in London, United Kingdom. It is located on a 100-acre site on the northern quay of the Royal Victoria Dock in London Docklands, between Canary Wharf and London City Airport...
Arculus has also been a member of the National Consumer Council and chairs both the
Royal InstitutionThe Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London...
and the Advisory Council of The
British LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is located in London and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents,...
as well as being a Trustee of various charitable organisations.