Spurs owner tightens his grip on DCD Media with shake-up

The billionaire tycoon and Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis yesterday expanded his reach into TV and film production as he shook up the board of DCD Media.

DCD is the company behind the ITV entertainment show by illusionists Penn and Teller, Richard Hammond's children's series Blast Lab and the United States reality show Bridezillas.

David Craven and Richard McGuire have been appointed chief executive and chairman of DCD with immediate effect, after Mr Lewis's Mayfair Investments built up a 50 per cent stake this year. Messrs Craven and McGuire held the same roles at another AIM-listed media firm, Timeweave, before Mr Lewis took that private in a near-£50m deal this month.

Timeweave, a major backer of the horse-racing channel Turf TV, is in effect taking control of DCD.

DCD's long-serving chief executive Sammy Nourmand is leaving the company.

David Green will quit as chairman but stay to focus on expanding subsidiary September Films in America.

DCD Media, which is valued at £8m, made an operating loss of £2m in the past half year.