Director of Harrods, BBC Correspondent

Michael Cole has occupied positions of great responsibility in two World Class corporations, both based in Britain but celebrated internationally for their standards of excellence.

From 1988 until 1998, Michael Cole was Director of Public Affairs of Harrods with a seat on the main board and on six subsidiary companies. He was one of the only six Directors of the parent company Harrods Holdings plc. During this time, the House of Fraser Stores group was successfully floated as a public company and Harrods profits tripled under the leadership of the store’s owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

When Mr. Al Fayed’s son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales, were tragically killed in Paris in August, 1997, Michael had the responsibility for speaking for the family.

From 1968 until 1988, Michael was Senior Journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation. From 1985 to 1987, he was accredited to Buckingham Palace as BBC Television’s Court Correspondent and accompanied The Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of The Royal Family on overseas tours.

During a wide-ranging television career, he covered 6 British General Elections, reported from 65 countries and was based at various times in Beirut, Washington D.C., at the United Nations and in Southern Africa.

On two occasions, his work was recognised by the Royal Television Society. In 1983 his report on the resignation of the Rt. Hon. Cecil Parkinson and in 1984 his report on the rescue of the Rt. Hon. Norman Tebbit from the Brighton bombing were both judged to be "The Best Home News Report of the Year".

Television work of a different kind came his way at Harrods where he co-hosted a series of very successful Harrods programmes on the American shopping channel QVC. After Harrods, the British cable channel "Living" invited him to present his own talk show, "Michael Cole", which scored an immediate hit with viewers by dealing with controversial subjects in a common sense way.

In a career of great variety, Michael found that Harrods and the BBC demanded the same degrees of personal commitment, loyalty, individual responsibility, leadership and the crucial ability to accomplish difficult tasks against the clock and the gaze of Press and public alike.

Michael's topics include:

Dealing with the Media: "Swimming with Sharks and Surviving"
Confessions of a Talk Show Host
Facing the Truth on Both Sides of the Camera
My Years Accredited to Buckingham Palace
Covering the World
Managing Your Reputation