UK Screen appoints new chief executive

Hatton, who is currently a director of UK Screen and chair of its Technology Working Group, will take up the role on 1 February.

He will replace Sarah Mackey who has been chief executive of UK Screen for the past four-and-a-half years.

Under Hatton’s leadership the organisation would be in “excellent hands”, she said.

“Neil has been incredibly supportive during my time here and we will be working together to ensure a seamless transition for our members and other partners,” Mackey said.

Hatton has served several terms on the UK Screen board and as chair of its Technology Working Group led discussions between UK Screen members and broadcasters on the introduction of loudness standards and the file-based delivery and QC of broadcast content.

He has also produced conferences for UK Screen on areas including audio loudness, QC and workflow automation and UHD and worked as a producer at the BBC Academy.

Hatton is a former offline and online editor and owned Soho facility Frontier Post for 15 years.

He said: “I’ve been deeply involved in UK Screen for a dozen years now and so it’s a great honour to be handed the reins.

“We have had some great successes in recent years, particularly the tax reliefs, and Sarah has done a terrific job. I’m looking forward to continuing that quest of building a better business climate for the benefit of our member companies.”

UK Screen director and Double Negative managing director Alex Hope added: “Neil combines an in-depth knowledge of the Association with a wealth of industry experience and an enormous amount of enthusiasm.

“His many years’ experience running service companies means that Neil understands the daily challenges that UK Screen members face. This is a great fit for UK Screen.

“The Board would also like to thank Sarah Mackey for her first-rate advocacy work and leadership during her time as CEO. It has been a pleasure working with her.”