Christopher Peter Townsend is a KPMG Senior Partner and Head of KPMG’s Infrastructure, Government, Defence and Healthcare (IGH) practice. He was previously the Commercial Director of Chelsea F.C. and London Resort. Since 2019, he has been an independent Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, London, where he chairs the gallery's Trading Company. In April 2020, during Phase 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic, he accepted the role of Chief Executive of the government's Shielding Programme on a voluntary basis for 4 months before joining KPMG.
Career
In 1986, Townsend was hired as a board director by DMB&B a worldwide top five advertising agency, before becoming joint managing director of the firm. He entered the world of multichannel television in 1990, becoming marketing director at BBC Enterprises, advising on subscription channels.
Townsend joined BSkyB as customer marketing director in April 1992 and was responsible for all customer marketing including subscriber acquisition and retention generating 90% BSkyB revenues. Townsend launched Sky's Pay TV channel which included Sky Sports & Sky Movies, and was responsible for expanding Sky's customer base from 250,000 to 3.5 million customers. In 1992, he launched the Premier League on the Sky Sports Pay TV Channel. In 1995, Townsend was promoted to marketing director of BSkyB. He went on to develop and implement the Sky digital marketing strategy, Sky Interactive and the Sky Electronic Programme Guide, which he personally patented. His involvement with Sky Interactive resulted in considerable commercial deals exceeding £500 million.
Townsend joined Telewest in July 1999, taking up the newly created role of director of interactive services. While at Telewest, Townsend was responsible for developing the company's digital TV services and negotiating all commercial contracts for content distributed on Cable Digital TV and Blueyonder Broadband networks to 3.5 million Telewest homes.
In April 2003, Transport for London (TfL) appointed Townsend as group marketing director. He led the highly successful launch and marketing of the Oyster Card and also played a key role in securing the £10 billion investment from Government for the upgrade of the TFL Underground, Rail, and Bus Networks. His responsibilities included all marketing across the TfL transport network, including the Congestion Charge and the London Underground (LU) network to London's 8 million residents. During his directorship at TfL, he negotiated all advertising and sponsorship revenue contracts, including an 8 year £800 million deal with Viacom for the Underground advertising contract.
2012 Olympic Games
Townsend was part of the successful London 2012 Olympic bid team in his previous role as Marketing Director at Transport for London (TfL). The Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic bid, Sir Keith Mills, encouraged Townsend to apply for the Commercial Director role.
In June 2006, Townsend was appointed as Commercial Director by the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic Games. He was responsible for domestic sponsorship, ticket marketing and merchandising of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the development and management of the London 2012 marketing programme 2006-2010. He also led the negotiation of worldwide broadcast rights and sponsorship for the games with the International Olympic Committee. Townsend had the responsibility for generating £2.4 billion to prepare and stage the Olympic Games in London in 2012. He was listed in The London 100 Secret Power Brokers, having signed 44 domestic partners without which the London 2012 Olympic Games would not be possible. During the last five years, Townsend signed leading brands including Lloyds Bank, British Airways, BT and EDF Energy. The financial support from these partners has also helped to finance grass-roots sporting activity which will develop future Olympic competitors. In 2011, portraits of sports stars and the people that helped organise the London 2012 games were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery, including a photo of Townsend.
London Resort
In 2012 Townsend became commercial director of the London Resort project, a Paramount Pictures theme park in Kent which was planned to open by 2018. He described it as "the country’s biggest and most exciting regeneration project".