Emap chief to take HMV hot seat

MOTORCYCLING-mad Sir Robin Miller is set to take over from EMI chief Eric Nicoli as chairman of the music and books retail chain HMV.

Miller, 62, who is one of the most-respected figures in the media world, was both chairman and chief executive of Emap, which he built from a regional newspaper company in East Anglia to become one of the largest media groups in Britain with a market capitalisation of more than £2bn.

The former Motorcycle News journalist and editor is also known as something of a scourge of fund managers and institutional shareholders, whom he accused of having only a superficial interest in their investments and and failing to spot corporate scandals.

Nicoli, who joined the HMV board in 2000 and became its chairman a year later, will step down next February. He oversaw the successful flotation of the HMV records and Waterstone's bookshops group in May 2002.

Miller was knighted last June and is a non-executive director of Channel 4 television and chairman of the eastern division of Sport England.

He said: 'The HMV businesses are exciting and dynamic with considerable potential for growth.'