RW Foot

Robert William Foot OBE, 1889-1973 was Joint Director-General 1942-1943 and Director-General 1943-1944.

A former solicitor, Foot became General Manager of the Gas, Light and Coke Company. In 1941 he was asked to investigate BBC overspending and inefficiencies and was appointed joint Director General soon after.

He decentralised BBC management and improved relations with the Government. He was essentially an administrator and after Cecil Graves retired, Editor-in-Chief William Haley managed programming. In 1944, Foot returned to the mining industry to become chairman of the Mining Association.