Open Eye: New finance director for OU

Miles Hedges, 42, has been appointed to the post of Finance Director at the Open University.

He will start work at Britain's largest university in mid-April, coming from his current role as Finance Director of the University of Nottingham.

Miles read Chemistry at Oxford and then trained as a chartered accountant with Deloitte Haskins & Sells, where his clients included Oxford University, Reading University and three colleges of London University. In 1989 he was seconded to the Universities Funding Council for two years and in 1991 was appointed to his present post. From 1994 to 1998 he also chaired the British Universities Finance Directors Group.

He feels he identifies very strongly with the OU's aims to be "open as to people and open as to ideas"...

"I am very pleased to be joining the Open University, one of the world leaders in providing higher education on a distance learning basis.

"I look forward to leading the finance division to provide the high quality financial services that will support the OU's activities."