Anne Christine Bulford (born 22 September 1959) is a British media executive who was the most recent Deputy Director-General of the BBC, and the first woman to hold the position.

Early life

Bulford was born in Wirral, England. She graduated from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

where she was a lay member of Council and Honorary Treasurer until July 2012. She is a trained chartered accountant.

Career

KPMG and first period at the BBC

She worked for twelve years with

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

. She left KPMG in 1993 to become Head of Internal Audit at the BBC. She was subsequently appointed Finance Director of Regional Broadcasting and then, following an internal reorganisation became the first Finance Director of BBC Production.

Return to the BBC

Bulford left the BBC in 1999 to join

Carlton Communications Carlton was a British media company. It was led by Michael P. Green and listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it was bought by Granada plc in a corporate takeover to form ITV plc. Carlton shareholders gained ...

. From 2002 to 2005, Bulford was Director of Finance & Business Affairs at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

, before being hired by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, becoming their Chief Operating Officer, following a period as interim Chief Executive. Bulford re-joined the BBC as a member of their finance and operations team in June 2013. In June 2016 it was announced that she would take up the role of Deputy Director-General. The BBC announced her salary in September 2017 to be £435,000 per annum. In January 2019, Bulford announced her plans to leave the BBC in the spring of that year, hoping to pursue a portfolio of non-executive roles. On her decision,

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

Tony Hall said, "Anne has been an inspirational leader. She has brought real insight and determination in bringing change to the BBC." Already

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE), Bulford was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to broadcasting and charity.

Personal life

Bulford is currently a Trustee of the

Motor Neurone Disease Association The Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND Association) focuses on improving access to care, research and campaigning for those people living with or affected by motor neurone disease (MND) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. MND is also know ...

and also of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. She married David Smith on 11 May 1991 at Rowley, East Riding of Yorkshire. Her husband rang church bells at Market Weighton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulford, Anne Living people 1959 births Alumni of University College London BBC executives BBC Board members British television executives Channel 4 people English accountants KPMG people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Market Weighton People from the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Royal Opera House