Stephen Burch, 57, cites two reasons for accepting his new role as head of Virgin Media: John Milton and John Donne. Mr Burch, at the centre of a $23 billion (£11.3 billion) bid battle for the cable group, is an English graduate. He was keen to live in the country and soak up its heritage after years based in the rather less poetic Baltimore – but his British tour has been hampered by the challenges he has faced since arriving from Comcast, the American cable operator, last year.

Integration, the job he was brought in to do, is just one of a long list of problems he must fix. He has also had to contend with investors’ unhappiness about the group’s below-par operating performance.

In addition, Virgin has become embroiled in a fierce legal battle with BSkyB, its main rival, which has involved Sky’s basic channels removed from its service.

Mr Burch entered the cable industry by accident after a college job selling the service door-to-door. After graduating with an English Literature degree from the University of Maryland and a law degree from Gonzaga University in Washington State, he spent 17 years at Comcast, working his way up to become president of its Atlantic division. His move was a break from family tradition: his four siblings all went into law and his father was a federal judge.

He was recruited into Virgin by its chairman, Jim Mooney, to replace Simon Duffy, who had lost favour with the group. However, rumours now abound – denied by Virgin – of a less than smooth relationship between Mr Burch and Mr Mooney.

Virgin and the NTL-branded company it was formed from is notorious for the large payouts secured by its executives and Mr Burch is no exception. Last year he received $11.14 million in pay, bonuses and share awards, despite the group’s failure to buy ITV and its decision to rebuff private equity approaches.

Despite the problems, Mr Burch is optimistic about Virgin’s chances. After turning down an earlier offer to run Telewest because his wife was ill, he said that he took up the second offer partly because he felt cable’s time had finally come in Britain.

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