David Chance and Andreas Raffel have joined Olswang today (1 September) as the firm’s first non-executive directors to monitor and support the firm’s executive, develop Olswang’s international strategy and bring an outside perspective.
The new governance structure comes after the firm switched its single management board to a dual structure following a governance review conducted over a year ago. The new structure includes a decision-making executive committee, chaired by chief executive David Stewart, and an elected board which represents the partnership’s interests.
Chance joins Olswang with board and management experience in the Pay TV and Telecoms industries. He was formerly deputy managing director of BSkyB Group and chairman of start-up Top Up TV. He is also chairman of Modern Times Group, non-executive director of PCCW, and a majority shareholder of Hong Kong Telecom, and chairman of its pay TV subsidiary NOW TV. Previously, he was a non-executive director of ITV, O2 and digital rights management group Intertrust Technologies.
Raffel brings 25 years’ board level experience and was executive vice chairman at Rothschild since 2008, following a six-year stint as chief executive of Rothschild in Germany. He also has experience of advising European, US and Asia business on strategic and financial matters across different industries.
Chairman of Olswang’s board, Dirk van Liederkerke, said: ‘A successful business is a connected one and one which is open to contributions from outstanding members of the wider business community. As Olswang grows and strengthens its TMT focus globally in a complex and ever evolving market environment, we can benefit enormously from respected professionals who can add strong industry knowledge and an outsider’s point of view at the same time.
‘David and Andreas will help us to stay on track with our plans for growth, constructively challenge and contribute to our strategy, as well as support our operational leadership. We look forward to working with them on making Olswang an even stronger player in technology, media and telecoms internationally.’
Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk
