BBC Studios confirms Amanda Jones as chief financial officer

BBC Studios has handed interim chief financial officer (CFO) Amanda Jones the role on a permanent basis, taking over from Lorraine Burgess.

Amanda Jones

Jones will sit on the BBC Studios executive committee and BBC Commercial board after taking up the role next month, reporting to Tom Fussell, CEO of BBC Studios/Commercial.

As CFO, Jones will be responsible for the overall financial strategy and teams for the BBC’s commercial group, as well as overseeing budgeting, reporting, business support and financial controls at the BritBox and UKTV owner.

She will work with the CEO and the rest of the executive committee, as well as key BBC Group and external stakeholders, to shape strategy that will help the company deliver its ambitious commercial plans.

Jones has a wide-ranging background in finance, working across media organisations such as Sky, ITV and Emap, as well as data, insight and consulting company Kantar.

She has held several finance executive roles, most recently as CFO of Kantar Worldpanel. She takes over from Burgess, who has been BBC Studios’ CFO since early 2022, having also held it on an interim basis for six months.

It comes after the commercial arm of the BBC saw its revenue rebound to £2.2bn (US$2.9bn) in the 2024/25 financial year following a drop in 2023/24, with BritBox International and Bluey consumer products helping to offset challenges in the production and distribution market. The financial results were announced last week as part of the BBC’s annual report and accounts.

As well as being the BBC’s biggest supplier of programming, with shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, Return to Paradise and The Americas, BBC Studios also creates series for partners including Apple, Disney+ and Netflix, including Prehistoric Planet, Bluey and Baby Reindeer.

Fussell said: “As BBC Studios seeks to grow its business in a highly challenging market, Amanda will be instrumental in helping us drive the business forward to deliver against our ambitious plans.

“She is a highly commercial finance executive with extensive experience at board level in large and global organisations and holds an impressive track record in bringing together different businesses and supporting digital product growth strategies in traditional media organisations. Having worked with Amanda in her interim role over the last few months, I’m delighted she will be joining the executive team on a permanent basis.

“I also wanted to share my thanks to Lorraine Burgess, who is stepping down from the role, for the enormous contribution she has made to the growth of BBC Studios since she joined in 2021. She has been a much loved and respected colleague across the whole company, and I wish her well, and continued success, with her future plans.”