Channel 4’s chief operating officer to join BBC

The BBC has this week appointed Anne Bulford OBE as Managing Director, BBC Finance and Operations. The role will now combine the two posts of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

Bulford, who will sit on the BBC’s Executive and Worldwide Boards, will oversee the Finance, Operations, Technology, Legal, Risk and Assurance and Property functions. The role will also cover Commercial Rights and Business Affairs.

Her appointment follows the announcement last year that the BBC’s current Chief Financial Officer Zarin Patel will be stepping down. It also follows the closure of the Chief Operating Officer post last September.

Incoming Director-General Tony Hall said: “Anne’s appointment is another significant step towards building a senior management team with the creative and strategic skills to lead the BBC for the next decade. She is a remarkable talent with a very impressive track record and we are very lucky to have secured her skills for the BBC in such a competitive market.”

Bulford is currently Channel 4’s Chief Operating Officer and has a seat on the board. Before joining Channel 4 in 2005 she spent three years with the Royal Opera House as Director of Finance and Business Affairs prior to which she was Finance Director at Carlton Productions.

Bulford has also previously worked at the BBC as Head of Internal Audit and then Finance Director of BBC Productions. Before joining the BBC Anne qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG.

“I am really looking forward to returning to the BBC,” Bulford said. “I have such great respect for the organisation and cannot wait to come back and be a part of the new management team. I am also very pleased to be working with Tony once again.”

Anne Bulford begins her new role this summer. She will be paid a total package of £395,000.