Anne Bulford

Anne Bulford CBE
Deputy Director-General of the BBC
In office 6 July 2016 – 2019
Preceded by	Mark Byford
Personal details
Born	(1959-09-22) 22 September 1959 Wirral Peninsula, England
Spouse	David Smith
Residence	London
Alma mater	University College London
Occupation	Media executive

Anne Christine Bulford CBE (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 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. 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. From 2002 to 2005, Bulford was Director of Finance & Business Affairs at the Royal Opera House, before being hired by Channel 4, 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 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 (OBE), Bulford was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting and charity.

Personal life

Bulford is currently a Trustee of the Motor Neurone Disease Association 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.