Preschool producer Alison Stewart has been upped to head production, animation and acquisitions for CBeebies, replacing Kay Benbow who is now controller of the CBeebies channel. Like Benbow, Stewart will be leading her team from Salford when BBC Children makes its move next year.

Stewart is moving from her current role as executive editor for CBeebies, where she leads in-house development in all aspects of production. Commissions include the latest landmark title, ZingZillas, which is the first collaboration between in-house production and BBC Worldwide.

Stewart’s first job at the BBC was a three-month holiday relief contract as a dresser in the costume department. Those three months turned into 15 years as she moved into the production sector. She left the BBC in 1996 to work as a producer, director and scriptwriter in the independent sector and later returned to the BBC in 2007 as EP for CBeebies production.