The British Film Commission (BFC) has made a raft of appointments headed by the recruitment of Terri Jones as the body's first director.

Jones, formerly director of production at UK TV station LWT, will oversee the day-to-day running of the BFC. She will also assist commissioner Steve Norris in setting and implementing policy.

Other appointments see Alison Sawkill taking up the post of head of information and Julia Kenny joining as research co-ordinator. Additionally, Heather Brown is appointed marketing co-ordinator and Bindi Binning events and development co-ordinator.

Concern over the number of appointments has been raised due to the BFC's imminent move to become part of the government's new film super-body, The Film Council. Critics argue that the moves mean that the council - which will oversee all state-backed support for the film industry - will need to boost the amount of overhead funding for the BFC.

But a BFC spokesperson said that the body had always planned to restructure and that some of the appointments were replacing staff. The spokesperson added that the council had approved the appointments and that the BFC anticipated an increase in inward investment this year.

According to BFC figures, investment in UK-based film production rose 35% last year to £574.4m. The rise was due to the level of overseas-financed productions.