Britain's Deputy High Commissioner at New Delhi, Mr. Tom Macan has been appointed as the Governor of the British Virgin Islands and will take up his appointment in October 2002.

Her Majesty The Queen has approved the appointment of Mr. Tom Macan as the Governor of the British Virgin Islands in succession to His Excellency Mr. Frank Savage. Mr. Macan will take up his appointment in October 2002.

Tom Macan joined the Diplomatic Service in 1969, having graduated in Economics from the University of Sussex where he was also President of the Union (1967-1968). Appointed initially to the UN Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), he was posted to the Embassy in Bonn in 1971 and subsequently Brasilia (1974). Back in the FCO in 1978, he was Head of the Environment and Maritime Boundaries Section until 1981, when he returned to the Embassy in Bonn as Press Secretary.
In 1986, he served again in the FCO, first as Head of Commonwealth Coordination Department and subsequently (1988) Head of Training Department.

In 1990, Mr. Macan was appointed Deputy Head of Mission in the Embassy in Lisbon. From 1995 to 1998, he was Ambassador at Vilnius, and subsequently took a private sector secondment to the BOC (industrial gasses). In May 1999, he became Minister and Deputy High Commissioner at New Delhi. Tom Macan and his wife, Janet, have two children: Nicholas (1981) and Melissa (1984).

His Excellency The Governor, Mr. Frank Savage, who took up his appointment in July 1998, will leave the Territory on Monday 30 September 2002, upon retirement from the Diplomatic service.