Since joining the Group he has embarked upon a fundamental review of the organisation and has built a new executive board based upon delivering a rolling five year plan which aims to create long term sustainability for Welsh rugby both on and off the field.

Together with his executive he has substantially renewed the national squad coaching team, restructured the rugby development pathway under a newly established Head of Rugby Development role and completed detailed reviews of the elite and community games and the Premiership Division.

The new Head Coach, Warren Gatland (whom Lewis, along with David Pickering and Gerald Davies appointed), celebrated a Grand Slam RBS Six Nations victory in 2008. Furthermore participation levels in the community game have increased this past year.

Again in 2008 the WRU Group produced a record turnover of £50.3million and delivered a profit before interest, tax, depreciation and allocations of £23.6million.

The bank debt of the Group has been reduced to £45.0million and the financial arrangement with Barclays Bank PLC has been renegotiated under a new deal arrangement.

Roger Lewis has also focused his commercial and marketing team on developing new deal structures for the Millennium Stadium and one significant result of their quest for global brand sponsorship has secured a multi million pound contract with the American Under Armour sportswear company.

Together the executive has identified the community game in Wales as a key priority area and afforded regional development status on North Wales to ensure all Welsh players with international potential have elite rugby development opportunities close at hand. Lewis has pledged to deliver a WRU Centre of Excellence for all Welsh international squads and this is well advanced, along with a declared ambition to foster rugby in schools and align them more closely with the club system in Wales.

Immediately prior to taking his lead role in Welsh rugby he was the Managing Director, ITV Wales having joined them and the board of HTV Ltd in 2004. He joined the broadcaster from Classic FM where he was the Managing Director and Programme Controller and a main board director of its parent company GWR group plc for six years.

Roger took Classic FM to record audience, revenue and profit levels between 1998 and 2004.  Under his leadership, the station was named UK Station of the Year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards, Media Brand of the Year at the Media Week Awards, Brand Development of the Year at the Marketing Week Awards and Arts & Business UK Champion of the Year.

Before joining Classic FM in 1998, he spent eight very successful years in the record industry, as the Managing Director of EMI Records Classical Division and subsequently as the Managing Director of the EMI Premier Group, where he was responsible for a portfolio of labels including rock and pop catalogue, jazz, film soundtracks and TV tie-ins, musicals, country and world music.

In 1996 Roger was approached to become World-wide President of the Decca Record Company, where he undertook a significant restructure of the business. In 2000 Decca became the most successful classical record label in the world. At Decca he worked with many great artists including Pavarotti and the Three Tenors. Roger chaired the classical committee of the BPI, the UK record industry trade body during this period.

Roger spent all of the 1980’s in pop music radio. From 1985 to 1990 Roger was Head of the BBC Radio One Music Department and a BBC producer, having spent five years in commercial radio at Capital Radio and Radio Tees. He produced the breakfast show at Capital Radio and Radio 1.

As a radio producer, Roger made a number of rock documentaries with artists such as Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Bob Geldof, Wham, Madonna etc and produced the Radio 1 Road Show for two years. During his time as Head of Radio 1, he developed relationships with a number of rock promoters and the station was directly involved in many major events including the Nelson Mandela Birthday Concert, Knebworth and the Prince’s Trust at Wembley. The station signed a clutch of new presenters including Simon Mayo, Nicky Campbell and Mark Goodier during his tenure.

As a musician in the late 70’s Roger worked across a range of genres, in theatre and dance, in Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, Lancaster and London. Roger was the Chairman of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and a director of Liverpool Capital of Culture Company – a multi billion pound regenerative project for the North West – from 2003 to 2006.

He served a four-year term (2000-04) as Chairman of the MDS Advisory Group for the Department of Education and Skills, reporting to Estelle Morris and David Miliband. He has been Chairman of the Ogmore Centre Trust since 1996, which provides residential education courses to children in South Wales including major programmes on sport and the arts. In 1996 he was invited by the BBC to join a three person panel to review BBC Radio 3’s performance against its strategy.

Roger was a trustee and a member of the board of the Wales Millennium Centre and was active prior to joining the board in 2004 in fund raising for the Centre in London. He is also a Vice President of the London Welsh Male Voice Choir and the Welsh Music Guild. In 2006 he held the Chair of Arts and Business Cymru and was invited by the Welsh Assembly Government to sit on the panel to review the Arts Council of Wales and the future funding of the arts in Wales.

He was named Commercial Radio Programmer of the Year at the NTL Commercial Radio Awards in 2002 and Managing Director of the Year in the British Radio Awards in 2004.  He was featured in the Financial Times Top 100 Creative Business People in 2003 and Broadcast Magazines Hot 100 in November 2004.

In 2000 he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2004 Roger was made an Honorary fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and in 2005 he was presented with Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music, by HRH, The Prince of Wales. Roger was invited to become a fellow of the Institute of Welsh Affairs in 2006. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the University of Cardiff in 2007. He is the Chair of the International Advisory Board of Cardiff University Business School.

In 2003, Roger was asked by fellow director of Barchester, David Charters, to become a founder member of the Beacon Fellowship – an organisation dedicated to encouraging philanthropy in the UK.

Roger is a graduate of the University of Nottingham, B.Mus (Hons) 1976. His formative years in Wales were dominated by music and rugby, playing with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, the Glamorgan Youth Orchestra, the Welsh Jazz Orchestra and singing with the Glamorgan Youth Choir.

Born opposite the common in Cefn Cribwr, Roger played rugby at school and at university. He owns four debentures at the Millennium Stadium and has attended international matches since 1966. From 1993 – 2004 he was an active member of the Maidenhead Rugby Club and was involved with teams from U8’s up to U19 level. He is President of Cefn Cribwr RFC. In addition to rugby, Roger is passionate about skiing and hill walking.

Trusteeships