Charter chunter 5

Sir Martin Sorrell (Haberdaskers' Aske's, Christ's Cambridge and Harvard) says the BBC still has room to make efficiencies. I wonder if Lord Hall will agree in his speech next week. Sir Martin is CEO of WPP, which has close to 180,000 employees and revenues of over £11bn.

“It has to adapt more in a millenial world. The basic thing is about organisation. Sometimes when I walk into a BBC building and I see the cells, the silos, or when I go to events and I see multiple film crews or presenters or interviewers ... the answer is I’d like there to be more horizontality at the BBC.”

Is that code for cuts, asked the intrepid Guardian reporter braving hard times at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, in Cannes.

“It means being more efficient. What you do with that investment, or saving, whether invest in more product or take from the bottom line, that is another question for the powers that be. But do I think, given the size of the organisation and its complexity, there must be efficiencies in there? It’s definitely [a] yes. Can WPP be more efficient, certainly”.

Current horizontality means the BBC can spare Ben Cooper of Radio 1, Lauren Laverne and Stephen Sackur to attend as speakers, alongside indirect employees Mariella Frostrup and Brian Cox. The Guardian have backed up new editor Kath Viner with reporters Mark Sweney and Jane Martinson. Gawd knows how many are there pretending to be from the Mail Online, including Piers Morgan, presumably as Senior Cabin Boy on their Festival Yacht.