The BBC's Head of Revenue Management, Zarin Patel, has been promoted to Group Finance Director, the corporation said today. In her new role she 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 continue to have responsibility for licence fee collection and procurement. Under her leadership the BBC reduced evasion of the license fee to an all-time low of 5.7 per cent.

Zarin Patel joined the BBC from KPMG in 1998 as Group Financial Controller, and was promoted to Head of Revenue Management in 2001. She graduated in economics at the London School of Economics in 1982 and 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.

The appointment follows the promotion of John Smith to the post of Chief Operating Officer.

Announcing her appointment, John Smith, Chief Operating Officer, said: "I am delighted to have secured Zarin Patel for this key role at a critical time for the BBC. She is an outstanding leader and has brought new energy into revenue management at the BBC, reducing evasion and optimising collection costs."

As Group Finance Director Patel will be one of the highest ranking British Asians at the corporation. She takes up her new role on 1 December 2004.