AN Aberystwyth man has been appointed the new chief executive of S4C.

Owen Evans is currently deputy permanent secretary to the Welsh Government, with responsibility for education and public services, and will take over from Ian Jones in October.

In his present position, he is responsible for a budget of £6.6bn and for leading a staff of 1,200 people.

Between 2008 and 2010 he was director of Business in the Community, Wales, during which time the organisation grew to represent 20 per cent of the Welsh workforce.

For 10 years before that, he worked in various positions for BT, including a period as a member of the UK team responsible for development of BT’s broadband strategy.

He was educated at Ysgol Penweddig, Aberystwyth, before graduating in economics at Swansea University.

He was a member of the Welsh Language Board between 2005 and 2010. He is currently a member of the Marie Curie advisory board for Wales.

S4C chairman Huw Jones said: “We are very fortunate to be able to appoint as S4C’s leader for the coming years someone who has demonstrated his ability in so many fields.

“Owen has shown more than once during his career the ability to adapt and take on major new responsibilities, including in the field of technology and the Welsh language."

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