SSVC and its Trustees

The Services Sound and Vision Corporation, SSVC, was formed in 1982 from the merger of the Services Kinema Corporation (SKC) and the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS). The organisation was founded on a single aim: To serve those who serve

SSVC is a private company limited by guarantee - there are no shareholders. The company is a self-supporting registered charity whose annual surpluses, after deducting an amount needed to sustain operational needs, are donated as welfare support for the Armed Forces. These donations are allocated
to specific projects and make life more enjoyable for Service personnel and their families around the world.

The Chairman

Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Vallance CB OBE MPhil(Cantab) FRAeS.

Air Vice-Marshal Vallance became a Trustee of SSVC in December 2007 and took over as Chairman of the Board a year later.

He joined the RAF as a Cranwell cadet in 1966, subsequently flying Vulcan bomber and strategic reconnaissance aircraft as a squadron pilot and flight commander. He commanded a Victor tanker squadron (1982-84). As Station Commander of RAF Wyton (1993-95), he commanded a composite wing of 4 flying squadrons and several operational ground units operating in the electronic warfare and specialist reconnaissance roles. He has nearly 4,000 flying hours in his log book.

His ground appointments in the RAF included 4 staff tours in the Ministry of Defence, London, one as RAF Director of Defence Studies, and one (very brief tour) as Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of RAF Personnel and Training Command. He spent 4 tours in NATO: one as Chief of Staff to NATO’s Reaction Forces Air Staff in Kalkar, Germany, and 3 in NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium.

Air Vice-Marshal Vallance attended the RAF Staff College in 1981 and six years later read International Relations at Cambridge University. He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. An authority on air power doctrine, he has lectured and published widely on defence issues and has been awarded a number of prizes for his defence writings. He was appointed OBE in 1988 and a Companion of the Order of Bath in 2003.

Air Vice-Marshal Vallance left the RAF in December 2004 to become Secretary and sole permanent executive of the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (the so-called ‘D-Notice’ Committee): the independent joint government/media body responsible for setting guidelines and providing advice on the public disclosure of national security information.

Chief Executive

Nick Pollard

Nick Pollard, who has joined SSVC as Chief Executive, has had a distinguished career in British journalism spanning forty years, and has very extensive experience in domestic and international news coverage.

For ten years, as Head of Sky News, Nick furthered its reputation for unrivalled coverage of breaking news and major events around the world. Under his leadership the channel won widespread praise and numerous awards for its reporting of events such as the September 11 th terrorist attacks, the Kosovo conflict, the Omagh bombing, the death of Princess Diana, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Asian tsunami disaster and the July 7th London bombings.

He oversaw coverage of New Labour’s historic election victory of 1997 and subsequent elections in 2001 and 2005, and the launch of Sky News Active, the world’s first interactive television news service, which has underlined the channel’s pioneering status.

Sky News’ position as Europe’s leading 24-hour news channel was highlighted during his tenure by the many industry and viewer awards won by the channel. Among many other awards Sky News was named four times as Royal Television Society News Channel of the Year and won two BAFTAs for news coverage, the first for coverage of the terrorist attacks on America and the second for its reporting of the Soham murders.

Before joining Sky News Nick spent nearly thirteen years at ITN where he was Executive Producer of News at Ten, responsible for General Election coverage in 1983, 1987 and 1992. He produced news coverage on location of some of the major news events of that period, including the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Zebrugge ferry disaster. Nick’s work for ITN on the first Gulf War was recognised with the Gold Award at the New York International Television Awards, and a BAFTA nomination.

Nick began his journalistic career as a local newspaper journalist in 1968. He then progressed to BBC Radio Merseyside as a reporter and presenter, before joining BBC Radio News in 1973 and moving to BBC TV News in 1977. He left the BBC in 1980, when he took up the post at ITN.

Nick joined BSkyB as Head of Sky News in 1996 and left in September 2006. He then worked as a consultant advising and assisting companies in the field of television news. From 2007 to 2008 he was principal adviser to the Indian company INX Media for the successful launch of their Delhi-based English-language news channel NewsX.

Nick has also produced several independent television programmes, including the ground-breaking ‘Africa Express’ for Channel Four.

Nick’s work has taken him to China on a number of occasions. In 1986 he spent several months there preparing and producing the UK’s live TV coverage of the Queen’s historic visit. He was closely involved in the establishment of Sky News’ Beijing Bureau in 1997 and has returned to the country several times since then. On a number of occasions he has lectured to Chinese visitors to the UK about modern television news and its production.

Throughout his career Nick has been involved with university media courses, lecturing to students at City, Westminster, Cardiff, Bournemouth, Coventry and Nottingham Trent Universities on a regular basis. He has also been closely involved with the establishment of bursaries to fund post-graduate student places at both Westminster and City Universities.

Nick is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and in 2007 was awarded the RTS’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Television Journalism. He chairs and supervises the RTS’s annual Journalism Awards.

Nick is married with two sons aged 21 and 23.

Trustees and Board

Members:
Air Vice-Marshal Andy Vallance CB OBE RAF
Howard Perlin FCA
Will Wyatt CBE
Roger Laughton CBE
Capt. Graham Robinson
Kate Adie OBE

June Dromgoole
Tony Hales CBE

Life Vice Presidents:
Lt.Gen. Sir Roderick Cordy-Simpson KBE CB DL
Gen. Sir Geoffrey Howlett, KBE, MC
Mr Michael Andrae

Registered Address

Chalfont Grove
Narcot Lane
Chalfont St. Peter
Gerrards Cross
Buckinghamshire
SL9 8TN

Tel: +44 (0)1494 874 461
Fax:+44 (0)1494 872 982