MUMBAI: The BBC has appointed Zarin Patel as group finance director. She is currently serving as the head of revenue. Patel takes up her new role on 1 December 2004.

The appointment follows the promotion of John Smith to the post of chief operating officer (COO). Patel will lead the BBC's financial strategy, planning, control and corporate reporting activities and will provide financial leadership to all of the BBC's divisions.

She will also have responsibility for licence fee collection and procurement. Patel trained as a chartered accountant with KPMG, where she gained 15 years experience at a senior level with multi-national corporations across the industrial and commercial sectors.

As the head of revenue management for the BBC, Patel is responsible for the collection of licence fee revenue and reducing evasion, which under her leadership has been reduced to an all-time low of 5.7 per cent.