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The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust has today set out a series of changes to the future remit for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commercial arm. These changes follow an 18-month review of the mandate, strategy and governance arrangements for ´óÏó´«Ã½ commercial activity, initiated by the Trust.

The changes include:

• An end to mergers and acquisitions unless there are exceptional circumstances;
• A clearer focus on securing value from the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s own intellectual property;
• An exit from any activity that is not in keeping with the ´óÏó´«Ã½ brand;
• Divestment of stakes in non-´óÏó´«Ã½ branded international channels over time where it makes commercial sense;
• A more transparent 'first look', with greater market testing to establish the right pricing structures.

In addition, the Trust notes the Executive's recommendation that Worldwide should become a more internationally facing business, and recognises the important contribution that ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide can make to delivery of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s fifth public purpose - bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK, but considers that such activity must contribute to the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s fulfilment of its public purposes as well as the scale of the dividend passed back to the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

As a specific point, the Trust would not expect to consider a commercial deal of the scale and nature of the Lonely Planet acquisition in future. The Trust will want to ensure that ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide's plans for it secure the best value for licence fee payers and will keep its long-term future under review.

Sir Michael Lyons, Chairman of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Trust said:

"Worldwide is a successful business which brings both significant financial benefits for the licence fee payer and a tangible boost to the creative economy. But the Trust and the Executive both acknowledge that the boundaries for Worldwide activity need to be clearer.

"Our commercial operations are not exempt from the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s public mission. They must keep the public purposes at their heart, engaging carefully with markets globally to help 'bring the UK to the world and the world to the UK', whilst protecting and promoting the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s brand and reputation.

"We're satisfied that these changes will provide much-needed clarity and a greater alignment with the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s public purposes, without stifling Worldwide's ability to perform as a thriving and profitable entity."

In July 2008, the Trust launched a review of Worldwide's activities. Its work was driven by two concerns. The first was to ensure that ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide's strategy was properly aligned with the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s public service interest and so had a positive impact on the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s brand and reputation. The second was to ensure that in its strategy and operations ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide was duly sensitive to the concerns of other commercial players in the market.

The review was based on three key principles regarding the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s approach to commercial activity:

• the ´óÏó´«Ã½ should hold onto the value of its intellectual property;
• it should exploit that value on the licence fee payer's behalf; and
• it should make sure no commercial activity damages the core brand and reputation of the ´óÏó´«Ã½, either at home or abroad.

The Trust published an interim statement in March which set out emerging conclusions for the review and formally suspended its activity against the backdrop of ongoing discussions between Channel 4 and Worldwide, as well as the wider Digital Britain debate.

The changes outlined above follow the announcement in September of a series of changes to Worldwide's governance framework to ensure that it complies with the combined code wherever possible and establishes greater separation between the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Executive Board and the Worldwide Board.

They also take into account the findings from the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's separate review of commercial operations. The business will now develop a three-year strategy plan to incorporate and reflect all of these changes which will be subject to approval by the Executive and the Trust before the end of this financial year.

The review of commercial activity was focused on the remit of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide within its current ownership structure and did not include consideration of more radical alternatives. In bringing this review to a close the Trust will continue to keep a close eye on the development of the markets and environment in which the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide operate. As the media landscape continues to evolve and shift we may need to revisit these issues again. The Trust's guiding principle will remain what is in the best interests of licence fee payers – in particular a solid assurance that the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s intellectual property and brand would remain secure.

To further inform its thinking in advance of considering the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s three year plan, the Trust is open to views on the findings set out in its statement, in particular on the business's international focus.

Notes to editors

´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide is the 100 per cent owned commercial subsidiary of the ´óÏó´«Ã½. The purpose of the company is to enable the ´óÏó´«Ã½ to maximise the value generated by content owned and paid for by licence fee payers.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Royal Charter defines the main objective of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ as the promotion of six public purposes. These are:

1. Sustaining citizenship and civil society;
2. Promoting education and learning;
3. Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence;
4. Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities;
5. Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK; and
6. In promoting its other purposes, helping to deliver to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services and, in addition, taking a leading role in the switchover to digital television.