Current COO of BBC England Alice Webb has been named as the new boss of BBC Children’s, succeeding former director Joe Godwin, who left in October to helm BBC Academy and BBC Birmingham.

CBeebies controller Kay Benbow will continue as acting director of BBC Children’s until Webb starts her new role at the end of February.

In her new remit at BBC Children’s Salford-based headquarters, Webb will report directly to BBC England director Peter Salmon and be tasked with leading BBC’s children’s networks CBeebies and CBBC.

Webb first joined the BBC a decade ago in a role with Vision Productions and moved on to become COO of BBC North in 2011, where she was instrumental in moving key BBC departments including Sport, BBC Children’s, 5 live and BBC Learning from London to Salford.

In May 2014, she was named COO of BBC England, and her accomplishments include leading a comprehensive review of BBC training, overseeing the BBC’s end-to-end production capability, and creating a digital season in Salford for more than 1,000 staff, which is currently being rolled out across the corporation.