A FORMER chairman of regulator Ofcom has been appointed chair of the Council of the University of Essex.

Lord Currie of Marylebone, a businessman, academic, and government adviser, will replace Bill Gore on August 1.

The council meets four times a year and is responsible for the university’s budget, its investments and planning, as well as staffing and health and safty issues.

Lord Currie, who advised two Conservative Chancellors in the 1990s and was chairman of Ofcom for seven years, is currently Chairman of the International Centre for Financial Regulation, amongst other roles.