The new senior team reflects the decision to move from a general management structure based around four sub-regions — Africa, Poland, Middle East, the Mediterranean and Central and Eastern Europe — to a focus on specialist lines of business for the CEMA region as a whole.

Welland says, "In a rapidly changing market, the combination of a senior management team, who are experts in their field, and well-connected teams based in local markets will give us the focus, consistency and effectiveness that we need to evolve and grow our presence in the CEMA market."

Reporting to Welland, and with the responsibility for strategy and business development, in addition to delivering revenue and profit growth across their line of business, are Louise La Grange, Salim Mukaddam, Natasha Hussain and Cecilia Beacon.

La Grange will take up the role of SVP branded services-commercial, and was previously the director for strategy and business development: global markets at BBC Studios. In this new role for the business, La Grange will have primary commercial accountability for BBC Studios’ branded services across Central and Eastern Europe and Africa.

Mukaddam assumes the position of SVP content and format sales and was formerly the general manager and vice president of Central and Eastern Europe at BBC Studios. Mukaddam is now responsible for growing the value of the distribution business.

Hussain is the new SVP MENA and will be responsible for driving opportunities for growth across all lines of business for Turkey, Israel and the dynamic Middle East and North Africa region.

Beacon assumes responsibility and accountability for editorial and marketing decisions across BBC Studios’ branded services network in CEMA in the role of SVP: programming and marketing.

For more information, visit www.bbcstudios.com. You can also follow BBC Studios South Africa on Twitter.