Directors
Robert Burke
Executive Chairman
Mr. Burke has spent the last 25 years managing international media businesses, with a particular emphasis on emerging markets. He rose to CEO of Worldwide Television News (WTN) in the 1980s and 1990s, developing its market-leading range of news, programming, sponsorship, and satellite distribution services to a global clientele. From 2001 to 2006, Mr. Burke was President and COO of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), during which period the company established itself as the dominant broadcaster in Eastern Europe and the world's highest-margin multinational television group. He began his broadcasting career as a television reporter and manager for ABC News in Washington and New York.
Martin Johnston
Finance Director
Martin Johnston is a chartered accountant who qualified with Deloitte Haskins & Sells. He worked in industrial companies for over twenty years and was first appointed to a board position in 1983, as finance director of Landis & Gyr Limited. In 1993 he joined Flight Refuelling Limited, the main operating company of Cobham plc, as finance director and in the following year he joined Servomex plc as group finance director and company secretary. Servomex was an industrial instrumentation group with a full listing on the London Stock Exchange. Martin left Servomex after five years when it was acquired by a larger UK group and joined FTV Group plc in August 2000. FTV was a prominent new entrant into the out-of-home advertising market.
Charles Thompson
Executive Director
Charles Thompson, who is Chief Executive of Steadfast Television, is one of the UK’s most successful factual television producers and senior executives. His reputation for creating popular peak-time factual programming is second to none and includes producing documentaries for Channel Four’s Cutting Edge series, the acclaimed Commando documentary series for ITV, Crime Beat for BBC and many other proven ratings winners over the years. In 1981 he founded IFPA, one of the first independent production companies to work with Channel Four. In 1993 the company was bought by the Trilion Group with Charles remaining as Managing Director. Following Trillion’s acquisition by Associated Newspapers IFPA, now known as Folio Productions, was bought by Mentorn. In 2000 Mentorn was acquired by The Television Corporation, with Charles as Managing Director of the Mentorn Group, by now one of the UK’s largest and most successful production companies. Under his management revenues increased from £17 million to £30 million driven by a raft of peak time successes including Car Wars, Traffic Cops, Shops, Robbers & Videotape for BBC, Chopper Coppers and Cars, Caravans & Chaos for Channel 5. Charles also oversaw the expansion of Mentorn’s activities in the US (executive producing the highly successful Paradise Hotel series for Fox) and its successful move into drama. He was also an executive director of Television Corporation plc, resigning in June 2005, before setting up Steadfast Television.
William Vanderfelt
Non Executive Director
Mr Vanderfelt is a highly experienced institutional investor with over 30 years experience as Managing Partner of Petercam, the leading independent Benelux investment bank, where he was in charge of Institutional Research and Sales. Mr Vanderfelt is an experienced fund investor and acts as a board director of several listed funds. He is a passionate proponent of good corporate governance and will help the Company ensure that it maintains best practice in its corporate governance. His current directorships include Petercam S.A. Luxemburg, Compagnie Immobiliere de Belgique, BFS US Special Opportunities and Vietnam Opportunity Fund.
Olivier Dorier
Non-executive Director
Olivier Dorier is currently a Partner at MAS Luxembourg, an audit firm in Luxembourg. Prior to that, Olivier worked for TMF Management Luxembourg SA from 1999 until 2003 as Chief Accountant in the Corporate Department and from 1996 to 1999 for Fiduciaire Continentale SA as Accountant in the Corporate Department.
Vassil Ivanov
Non-executive Director
Vassil Ivanov is a founding partner of Attria Capital Partners, an investment fund focused on Southeast Europe and based in Sofia, Bulgaria. He previously worked in the U.S.A. for Goldman, Sachs & Co., Texas Pacific Group and Karsch Capital Management.
