Anne Bulford


Anne Christine Bulford 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

She worked for twelve years with KPMG.

BBC

From 2002 to 2005, Bulford was Director of Finance & Business Affairs at the Royal Opera House. Deciding to enter media, she joined Carlton Communications as an executive, before being hired by Channel 4, becoming their Chief Operating Officer, following a period as interim Chief Executive.
Bulford 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."

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.