Jane Wright, head of business development for BBC Films, is stepping in as acting chief executive at UK-based The Sales Co following Alison Thompson's decision to move to Pathe International.

Wright, who has been a director of the company for two years, will join The Film Consortium chief executive Chris Auty, who becomes chairman of The Sales Co. The moves come as the operation is riding high in terms of sales with a raft of brisk sellers including Liam, When Brendan Met Trudy and Born Romantic.

The Film Consortium currently has a 25% holding but has been negotiating to take a majority stake in the operation, which has returned a profit every year since it was launched 15 years ago.

British Screen Finance's 25% interest has passed to recently launched UK film super body The Film Council. The other shareholders are BBC commercial arm BBC Worldwide and production outfit Zenith.