a result of a ten-year campaign by musician Dave Lee and Jasper Grinling (CBE 1978; Chairman, London Jazz Radio plc, 1989–91)who was inspired after listening to a Los Angeles jazz radio station, which has turned into a classical station. In 1980, Lee wrote the following to the Independent Broadcasting Authority: "Dear Sir, I hereby apply for a licence to open a jazz radio station in London." With competition from Kiss FM for one of the Londonwide incremental radio licenses, the IBA awarded the London Jazz Radio group the licence on 12 July 1989. Ron Onions, the former editor-in-chief of LBC, was appointed station director. As Jazz FM the station launched on 4 March 1990 with an Ella Fitzgerald concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Fitzgerald was flown in by the station to perform the concert, at which she sang with the Count Basie Orchestra; the concert was her last appearance in Europe. To promote the station, Jazz FM paid out £750,000 for advertising on ITV. Jazz FM faced insolvency in its early life. Broadcast Investments made an offer of £348,000 to purchase the station. Broadcast Investments withdrew the offer when Golden Rose Communications made a higher offer of £500,000 for the station. Golden Rose Communications took over the station in 1991. Former finance director Alastair Mackenzie stated that in an interview in 2002 that the station had run out of money three times in 1991, and he also helped with a management buy-in of the station for £435,000 in 1992. Jazz FM's licence was put up for renewal in 1993 by the Radio Authority. As well as Jazz FM, there was a bid for the licence from Euro Jazz London, which included ex-Jazz FM employees. Jazz FM retained its licence to broadcast. In 1994, the name of the station was changed to JFM by the station's management in order to appeal to more listeners who may have been put off by the name "jazz" in Jazz FM, and who thought that Jazz FM only played jazz records. The station spent £500,000 on publicising the name change. Richard Wheatly was appointed chief executive officer in 1995 to revive JFM which was running out of money due to both JFM and sister radio station Viva AM, a radio station for women. When Wheatly joined JFM, the station had three months cash remaining in the bank. Golden Rose Communications was floated