Name: Tim Davie
Was: PepsiCo vice president marketing Europe and Sub-Sahara Africa
Now: Acting director-general BBC
Years in grocery: 14


Career background: Davie joined P&G as a trainee in 1991 after reading English at Cambridge, working as a marketing brand manager. In 1993 he moved to PepsiCo as UK marketing manager and was promoted to vp marketing, Europe and Sub-Sahara. He also enjoyed a spell in PepsiCo’s New York office before joining the BBC’s marketing, communications and audiences division in 2005. Davie became director of audio and music in 2008, where his remit included responsibility for the radio stations, orchestras and the BBC Proms.

What is he doing now? Davie was made acting director-general of the BBC following the resignation of George Entwistle this week in the wake of the Newsnight libel fiasco. He’s no stranger to controversy, helping clean up after the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross prank calls scandal on Radio 2. He also oversaw the decision - subsequently reversed - to close the popular 6 Music and Asian Network radio channels. Just days into his new role Davie has already walked out of a live interview with Sky News.

Biggest achievement in grocery? When Pepsi relaunched in the mid-1990s, he worked with Matthew Freud to turn the Daily Mirror’s redtop masthead blue. Concorde also changed colour. .

What does the future hold? Davie - whose basic salary was £349,000 in his previous role - is said to be very ambitious, applying for the DG position last time round. And he’s thought to be an outside bet this time. “He’s got the trousers,” said a senior former colleague. “He knows the corporation well, without being too wrapped up in it. He’s also a formidable networker, as a bigwig in MGGB. And he’s fit. He ran the marathon de sable.”

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