Stephen Carter, the former chief executive of Ofcom who had been widely tipped to become the chief executive at ITV, is to join Brunswick, the corporate communications consultancy, as its chief executive.

Mr Carter told The Times that one attraction of the role was that he would not be exposed to the same public scrutiny as he has been in previous jobs.

At Ofcom, Mr Carter was responsible for launching the new communications regulator. He was also in the limelight in his previous role as chief operating officer of NTL in the UK.

If he had become the chief executive at ITV, he would have come under immense pressure from the outset to please shareholders.

In the new role, which he will take up at the start of March, after his gardening leave from Ofcom expires, Mr Carter’s focus will be the day-to-day running of the business and expanding it globally and into new areas outside public relations.

International markets that Mr Carter will concentrate on at first include the United States and Asia. “I know the US market well through working at NTL and WPP,” he said.

Mr Carter will report directly to Alan Parker, Brunswick’s chairman, who will be freed by Mr Carter’s arrival to do more direct work with clients. Mr Parker, who owns half the company, said that he will not be stepping aside when Mr Carter joins.

Brunswick would not disclose how much the former Ofcom chief executive would be paid, or what stake in the company he would get, but the salary is likely to be more than the £440,667 that he received in 2005 for running the communications regulator.

Mr Parker said: “Stephen will help to expand our investor relations business internationally. We are also looking at expanding into the opinion research market.”

Mr Parker said that he met Mr Carter about five months ago and knew immediately that he was the right candidate for the job. The meeting was arranged by Jan Hall at JCA Group, the headhunter who was responsible for the recent process to find a replacement for Mr Carter at Ofcom.

Mr Carter said: “I have been spending time thinking what to do next. This was a very active choice. It was not the only choice, but it was the one I wanted to take.”

He refused to comment on his involvement in the search for a chief executive of ITV.

Mr Carter said that there would be no regulatory issues with him becoming chief executive at Brunswick, as he will join after his gardening leave expires and he will not be running the business operations, not doing day-to-day client work. Brunswick’s media and telecoms clients include NTL, EMI, Emap, SMG, Pinewood Shepperton and 3.

Mr Parker said that there was no plan for Brunswick to be sold or floated on the stock exchange and that Mr Carter was not hired with the intention of preparing the partnership for such a move.

Big deals

£73.3bn

value of deals where Finsbury advised

£67.9bn

value of deals where Brunswick advised

£49.7bn

value of deals where Maitland advised

£42.6bn

value of deals where Citigate Dewe Rogerson advised

Source: PR Week

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