Tartan Films, the UK indie that recently changed its name from Metro Tartan, has appointed Jane Giles as its new head of acquisitions.

Giles, who held a similar post at the Institute of Contemporary Arts' ICA Projects, joined Tartan at the beginning of the year and has already travelled to the Rotterdam festival on its behalf and will attend Berlin and the AFM.

"We are delighted that someone of Jane's calibre is joining us. Her experience will be invaluable," said Laura De Casto, Tartan's managing director. Giles, who has also worked at the Film Four Channel, Electric Pictures and the British Film Institute, was responsible for bringing films including Osama, The Five Obstructions, The Man Without A Past and Ten to the ICA.

The ICA will now see distribution functions shared between Mairi MacDonald and David Cox. MacDonald, a long-time consultant to ICA Projects, will handle acquisitions while Cox, a critic for ID magazine and responsible for film programming at the Film Four Channel, will handle booking of the ICA cinemas.

Giles' appointment underlines the upward growth of Tartan, which has soared under the control of De Casto. Previously De Casto and Tartan's proprietor Hamish McAlpine handled most buying task themselves, often aided by outside consultants on Asian titles.

The group now handles some 40 theatrical releases per year and has launched additional video labels in order to give structure to its booming DVD business. It has recently expanded its publicity functions and hired Alan Partington as its video head. It is soon set to announce the appointment of a chief operating officer. This will free up De Casto and McAlpine to spend more time on Tartan's developing production operations.

Recent Tartan productions have included the critically acclaimed Sixteen Years Of Alcohol by Richard Jobson and the forthcoming Hillside Strangler by Chris Fisher.