Darren Cockburn is Managing Director of Season Consultants.  He has over 20 years experience of working with TV, entertainment, digital and mobile telecoms companies on strategy formulation, managing international M&A transactions and business development negotiations.

Darren is an experienced Non-Executive Director, working with start ups and online content companies to help shape and execute their strategies.  Darren is currently a Non-Executive Director at Audioboo.  Other non-executive directorships he has held include Espresso Education and Mobile IQ, where he helped set strategy and mentor the management from start-up through to exit. He was also non-executive Chairman of BBC Studioworks, working closely with management to return the company to profitability and move back into studios in Television Centre.

Darren was previously COO of the Deputy Director-General's Group at the BBC, combining both the roles of an adviser / chief of staff to the Deputy DG with working on special projects as well as operational line management of significant BBC activities. This role requires oversight across the finance, commercial, legal, distribution and operations activities of the BBC (both in the UK PSB activities as well as global news and commercial activities).  Darren was responsible for line management of the BBC's Workplace (Property, Facilities Management) and Safety, Security and Resilience teams (including business continuity) with a total budget responsibility in excess of £300m p.a. and team of c. 300 people. Key projects during Darren's time at the BBC included support to the BBC Charter renewal process as well as the financial choices required for strategic investment, leading an efficiency review and setting up a BBC wide simplification / reorganisation programme (PSR) to deliver £50m of savings.

Darren has also been Head of Corporate Development at Channel 4 Television in the UK, where he was in charge of corporate finance and strategic partnership activities, including investments / acquisitions as well as major partnership discussions.  Key results of his work at Channel 4 included completing key strategic partnership discussions such as the C4/PBS and C4/UKTV ad sales discussions (which was a £1billion+ deal: the largest commercial partnership in C4’s history)

Prior to Channel 4, Darren worked with the Walt Disney Internet Group (“WDIG”) from 2001 as Director of Strategy and Business Development,Europeand as a Special Project Consultant. At Disney, Darren was responsible for managing and developing their European mobile content business, establishing the broadband content business as well as completing several acquisitions in mobile content in Europe and China.

Darren has also spent several years in investment banking and venture capital roles at Nomura International and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson working on both venture capital financing and large public M&A.

Darren started his career at Arthur Andersen, where he helped establish the valuation and media consulting practices in their London office, growing these activities from 3 people to a team of 20.

Darren graduated from Oxford University with a BA (Hons) in Mathematics and also holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was awarded the Haas Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement.

Darren’s LinkedIn profile can be found at: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/darren-cockburn/0/2a/2b5