The following year, Hollick became chief executive of JH Vavasseur Group, a failing money broker caught up in the 1973-4 secondary banking crisis.

The following year it bought Anglia Television for £292m, and in 1995 a 14.8% share in Yorkshire-Tyne Tees, and was a major shareholder in the consortium that was granted the franchise for Channel 5.

[3] Many thought Hollick would meet his match in Lord Stevens of Ludgate, proprietor of United; but it was Stevens who was sidelined as Hollick became chief executive, and within 18 months the Express had undergone a radical shift of political affiliation, dropping its long-standing support for the Conservative Party to become an enthusiastic proponent of Tony Blair's New Labour.

UNM was required to sell its stake in Yorkshire-Tyne Tees as part of the merger, giving Granada control, but the next year it was permitted to add a third ITV franchise to its holdings, HTV, the broadcaster for Wales and the West Country.

But his plans were blocked by the then Secretary of State at the DTI, Stephen Byers, who ruled that the merger would only be acceptable if Hollick gave up the prized Meridian franchise – making the deal pointless.

In 2006 he was appointed to the supervisory board of media conglomerate VNU, after KKR and Blackstone Group won a difficult takeover battle.

Other directorships Hollick has held include Hambros Bank, 1973–96; Shepperton Studios (chairman), 1976–79; National Bus Company, 1984–91; Department of Applied Economics, Cambridge University, 1988–95; Logica, 1987–92; British Aerospace, 1992–97.