New leadership for British Library as cyber attack recovery continues

Former UK Space Agency chief Paul Bate will take over the leadership of the British Library in November, as the institution continues its recovery from the 2023 cyber attack.

Bate, who succeeds interim chief executive Jeremy Silver, will take up the role on 4 November after five years as chief executive of the UK Space Agency. He led the agency from 2021 to 2026, overseeing increased national civil space funding, expansion of research and infrastructure, and negotiations with the European Space Agency.

Bates has worked across government, technology, healthcare and the space sector. He began his career as a particle physicist and holds an advisory role as professor in practice at the University of Surrey Space Institute.

Other previous roles include vice president, commercial at Babylon Health; senior policy adviser to the prime minister for health and adult care; and executive director of strategy and intelligence at the Care Quality Commission.

Carol Black, the chair of the British Library board, said it had been impressed by Bate’s experience of leading complex organisations and developing partnerships.

“I am thrilled to welcome Paul Bate to the British Library,” she said. “The board were particularly impressed by his experience leading complex, research-intensive organisations, fostering innovation and building partnerships, which will be invaluable as we deliver our strategy to strengthen the library's role as a cultural cornerstone and globally trusted source of knowledge.”

Bate said the institution was “one of the world's great libraries”.

“I look forward to working alongside the library's dedicated staff, board, leadership team and partners to build on that bedrock of trusted knowledge, strengthening the core services of our national library and ensuring its relevance to researchers' needs and the next generation of users,” he said.

The appointment comes at a significant point for the national library, which is continuing to deal with the long-term consequences of a major cyber attack in October 2023.

The attack caused extensive disruption to the library’s digital systems and services and its recovery has entailed rebuilding its technology infrastructure.

The library’s 2024/25 annual report said the attack had left a “long tail of impact”, including substantial backlogs of material to be catalogued and made accessible, and gaps in its digital collecting. Although most of its major services are now up and running again, public access remains unavailable to a number of its catalogues.

The library is also continuing work on its wider strategic and capital programmes, including plans for new spaces in London and Leeds.

Silver, who has served as interim chief executive since November 2025, welcomed Bate's appointment.

“I know the British Library will go from strength-to-strength under Paul’s leadership, delivering new spaces in London and Yorkshire, developing our core services and engaging with the problem solvers of the future,” he said.

The arts and museums minister Ruth Mackenzie described Bate’s new role as “an exciting job in the UK’s world leading library”.

The British Library holds more than 170 million items across its London and Yorkshire sites, ranging from books and newspapers to maps, sound recordings, patents, academic journals and digital material.