The EMI Group has announced that Ferdy Unger-Hamilton will become the new MD of Virgin Records UK.
He fills the gap left by the departure of Phillip Ascoli from Virgin Records last year, though the post has changed somewhat in the meantime. As previously reported, Keith Wozencroft, president of EMI's Capitol UK division that incorporates the EMI and Parlophone labels, was given responsibility for Virgin Records UK last November. That means that Hamilton will report to Wozencroft, rather than directly to EMI Music chairman Tony Wadsworth like his predecessor. If that makes any sense whatsoever.
Ferdy originally founded the Go Beat label for Go Discs and in his A&R role there signed Portishead and Gabrielle, among others. He joined Universal Music when they acquired Go Discs, and was most recently an A&R Executive for the major's Island Records where he signed Keane. But nobody's perfect. He formally starts work at Virgin at the end of the week.