Rhuanedd Richards to head BBC Nations as pubcaster makes board appointments

Long-serving BBC executive Rhuanedd Richards has been promoted to director of BBC Nations, overseeing the corporation’s operations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Rhuanedd Richards

Elevated from her previous position of interim director of BBC Nations, Richards will also take charge of BBC Local in England and join the BBC executive committee.

Her remit includes helping to ensure audiences across the UK continue to receive distinctive content and services that reflect the lives, identities and experiences of local communities.

Richards has held a number of senior editorial and leadership positions in the BBC since 1997, including serving as a senior political reporter for BBC Wales and director of BBC Wales between 2021 and 2025.

Matt Brittin, director-general of the pubcaster, said: “Rhuanedd brings deep editorial experience and a passionate commitment to the BBC’s mission to represent and reflect the lives, identities and experiences of audiences across every nation and region of the UK.

“Over the past six months, I have seen first-hand the energy she brings to her leadership and the ambition she has for the future.

“She has already made significant progress overseeing our commitment to increase investment in portrayal content and sustained growth in online audiences. She has a clear vision for how BBC Nations must evolve to stay relevant, strengthen distinctive services and build strong partnerships across the organisation and beyond.”

Richards said: “The cultures, languages and identities of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, together with the distinctive communities across England, are a vital part of who we are and what we do. Our journalism and storytelling are rooted in the communities we serve and I’m immensely proud of that work and of the talented teams who deliver it every day.

“I’m genuinely excited to be taking on this role. I want us to be even closer to our audiences, to champion the extraordinary creative talent and sectors in every part of the UK, and to play our full part in the cultural life of the nations and communities we serve.”

Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia

In other BBC news, the corporation’s board has appointed Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia as a non-executive director for a four-year term, while chief content officer Kate Phillips joins as one of its four executive directors.

Gadhia will help guide the BBC’s transformation into the next royal charter period and ensure the board makes decisions in the public interest.

She is a business leader with a 35-year career spanning financial services and technology and co-founded Virgin Direct in 1995, subsequently spending over a decade as CEO of Virgin Money.

Phillips, meanwhile, will sit as one of four exec directors on the board, alongside Brittin, deputy director-general Rhodri Talfan Davies and group chief financial officer Bérangère Michel.