GB News co-lead investor Sir Paul Marshall has been replaced on the board of the broadcaster’s owner by Theodore Agnew, a former Treasury and Cabinet Office minister.
Sir Paul said he would remain involved with GB News owner All Perspectives Ltd but was stepping down from the board after three years to focus on his other interests.
He is expected to present himself as a frontrunner in the race to buy The Telegraph when the auction process reopens shortly, following the Government effectively blocking the purchase by Abu Dhabi-backed Redbird IMI.
Lord Agnew has also recently been appointed as chair of Unherd Ventures, which owns comment-based current affairs Unherd – another media outlet with Sir Paul as a major investor.
Unherd is currently the subject of an advertiser boycott after being put on a blacklist by the Global Disinformation Index because of articles deemed to contain “anti-trans narratives” . GB News has also been the subject of an advertiser boycott since its 2021 launch.
Sir Paul said: “I joined as a director for the start-up phase but now GB News is on a secure growth trajectory, I want to focus on my other business and philanthropic interests. I remain very engaged as a co-lead investor.
“I am delighted by the progress of GB News, which has become a significant brand in British media doing exactly as we’d planned – serving the under-served communities outside the M25. Its success is such that it now regularly beats its long-established rivals in the ratings, something which the industry predicted would never happen.
“Theodore is an exceptional business leader who brings enormous skills and strengths for the next stage of the company’s development.”
Lord Agnew (pictured as part of then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Treasury team in March 2021) is the founder of insurance claims management firm WNS Assistance, has been chief executive of another, Jubilee Managing Agency, and is the founder and chair of multi-academy trust The Inspiration Trust in East Anglia.
Lord Agnew has been a Conservative life peer since 2017 and was knighted for services to education in 2015.
He said: “I have watched and admired the dramatic growth of GB News across its platforms and have been impressed by the breadth of the audience it now reaches.
“GB News is a business with huge opportunity as the industry undergoes a digital transformation across existing and emerging platforms.”
All Perspectives chairman Alan McCormick said Lord Agnew “brings a wealth of experience to GB News from across business, civil society, and government and has demonstrated a track record in challenging vested interests and building profitable enterprises”.
GB News revealed last month it lost £42.4m in the year to May 2023, bringing its total losses to £76m since launch. It is now aiming to cut around 40 roles, starting with voluntary redundancies.
Chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos has said the broadcaster is “very confident about the future of being self-sufficient financially but we have a lot of work to do”.
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