Henry Staunton (businessman)

Staunton attended Ipswich School before reading Economics and Statistics at the University of Exeter. In 1970, he joined auditing firm Price Waterhouse: he was admitted as a partner in 1981, later becoming Senior Audit Partner, looking after a number of its clients including news service Reuters and textiles and chemicals manufacturer Courtaulds.[8]

Staunton was appointed to the board of ITV plc on 3 December 2003 after the merger of Granada and Carlton.[9] Previously he served as the Finance Director of Granada Group plc, which he joined in 1993.

Since then, Granada / ITV has:

• acquired London Weekend Television via a £650m hostile takeover (1994);
• acquired motorway catering company Pavilion Leisure (1994);
• acquired Direct Vision Rentals (1994);
• taken over Forte Group via a £3.8 billion tender offer (1996);
• acquired Yorkshire Television and Tyne-Tees TV (1997);
• acquired Anglia TV (2000);
• acquired HTV (2000);
• acquired Meridian TV (2000);
• merged with Compass Group to form Granada Compass plc (2000);
• demerged Granada Media (2000);
• acquired Border TV (2001); and
• merged with Carlton to form ITV (2003).

On 21 September 2005, ITV plc announced that Staunton planned to step down as Finance Director.[10] He resigned from the Board of ITV plc on 29 March 2006,[11] announcing that he planned to "broadly retire".[12]

Staunton's experience includes non-executive roles as Chairman of Ashtead Group plc, a plant hire company (1997–2004), and as a director of EMAP plc, a consumer magazine and media company. In 2002, Staunton (who had been on the Emap board since 1995) was forced to resign after a government ruling that he could not be on the board of both Granada and Emap.[13]

He has also served on the boards of ITN, a British news broadcaster, and BSkyB - the operator of the UK's largest digital pay television platform - and international fashion retailer New Look[14][15] Staunton was also a non-executive director of Ladbrokes from September 2006 to May 2010.[16]

He was appointed to the board of Legal & General on 1 May 2004[17] and served as Vice Chairman and Senior Independent Director[18] until his retirement from the board in May 2013.[19]

He is also a non-executive director of Standard Bank.[20] Staunton was appointed chairman of the Board Audit Committee and a director on 1 December 2005.

In April 2007 The Times reported that Vector, the £2.5 billion hotel real estate investment trust (Reit), was about to unveil a "high-powered set of nonexecutive directors" including Henry Staunton.[21]

He was appointed a non-executive director of The Merchants Trust plc (with effect from 1 May 2008) in April 2008.[22]

In 2010, it was announced he was to join the non-executive boards of WH Smith plc[23] and Capital & Counties Properties.[24]

Outside of his business life, Staunton sits on the advisory board of the University of Exeter Business School.[25] He plays Eton Fives[26] and golf. His clubs include Walton Heath Golf Club[27] and the RAC.[28]