I want the BBC to be a mass market public service broadcaster still funded by the licence fee... and the licence fee is more durable than many people in the commercial sector believe.

His appointment as BBC chairman sparked allegations of cronyism from Opposition political parties - Davies' wife Sue Nye was a private secretary of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the pair are known to be good friends. On 28 January 2004 he announced that he was resigning his BBC post following the publication of the Hutton Inquiry report which heavily criticised the organisation. Davies repeatedly came under criticism for his ties to Enron.

On 28 January 2004 he announced that he was resigning his BBC post following the publication of the Hutton Inquiry report which heavily criticised the organisation. Gavyn Davies OBE (born 27 November 1950) is a former Goldman Sachs partner and multi-millionaire who was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004.