Alex Towers

Alex was appointed Director of Policy and Public Affairs for BT Group in November 2017. He leads BT’s political strategy and its public policy work, both in the UK and around the world.

Before joining BT, Alex was the Director of the BBC Trust – the BBC’s regulator and governing body - from 2015 to 2017. In that time, he helped to restore stability at the top of the BBC after a period of crisis; negotiated a new Royal Charter to sustain a strong, independent BBC in the form that the public want; and managed the process of change and transition to a new BBC governance structure, winding up the BBC Trust itself in the process.

Alex held earlier positions at the Trust as Head of Finance, Economics and Strategy and then as Deputy Director. He led the Trust’s work to assess the performance of BBC’s services, to approve and allocate budgets, to scrutinise value for money, and to assess BBC proposals for new services and activities. He oversaw its programme of audience research, data analysis and public consultation. He also ran policy negotiations with Government officials and regulators.

In his earlier career, Alex was a civil servant at DCMS. His work on media policy included the 2003 Communications Act, Ofcom’s first review of public service broadcasting and the BBC Charter Review that followed. He also helped to plan and deliver the 2012 Olympics.