The UK regional screen agency has appointed three new board members and a new chair after recently launching its £15m Yorkshire Content Fund.

Screen Yorkshire has appointed Sarah Doole, Ian Roe and Richard Gerard to its board as it embarks on investing in content created by Yorkshire-based companies. John Surtees has also taken over as chair from Steve Abbott.

Sarah Doole is creative director for drama and head of indie drama at BBC Worldwide. Ian Roe is a chartered accountant working in television production who spent 17 years at Yorkshire Television before moving to the role of director of finance at ITV Productions. Richard Gerard has held financial director roles at B&Q Logistics and ITV, with 10 years experience working in the production business.

Meanwhile John Surtees, former director of resources at ITV and an existing Screen Yorkshire board member, takes over as chair from Steve Abbott, who is standing down after ten years in the post. Abbott will continue as a board member alongside Pathe UK MD Cameron McCracken and Charles Cecil, managing director of Revolution Software.

In February, Screen Yorkshire secured £7.5m of European Regional Development Funding, which will be matched by private sector investors on a project by project basis. The fund comes after a series of successful Screen Yorkshire projects including Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur and Ben Wheatley’s Kill List.