November date for new marketing chief

The successful candidate could command a salary of more than £100,000 a year, the Yorkshire Post can reveal.

The Yorkshire Post understands that a “strong shortlist” has been drawn up for a job which is partly taxpayer funded, and will involve promoting Leeds and its surroundings as a great place to live and work.

The board of Marketing Leeds has gone “back to the market” to consider candidates from Yorkshire and across the UK, following the announcement last month that Andy Clarke, the chief executive of Leeds-based supermarket chain Asda, has been appointed as the next chairman of Marketing Leeds.

He will take over the role from Nigel McClea, a partner at law firm Pinsent Masons, on October 14.

The new chief executive will be responsible for an organisation which has grown in scale at a time of public sector spending cuts.

It is currently funded through Leeds City Council, Yorkshire Forward – the regional development agency which is being scrapped next year – private sector champions and supporters.

The total budget for Marketing Leeds is around £1.45m per year.

This year, around £870,000 of this figure came from the Leeds City Council and Yorkshire Forward.

As part of the broadening of Marketing Leeds’ remit, it will become responsible for much of the work provided by Locate in Leeds, Visit Leeds, Conference Leeds, the Leeds Visitor Centre and inward investment and marketing activities previously undertaken by Financial Leeds.

A Leeds City Council spokesman said: “It will continue to work closely and to develop stronger ties with business groups in Leeds such as Leeds Legal, Leeds Retail Association and Leeds Hotels and Venues Association.”

It was revealed last week that Marketing Leeds had appointed an interim head, more than six months after it began its search for a permanent chief execu- tive.

Former council director Jean Dent will work with the management team at Marketing Leeds from Friday while efforts continue to find a suitable candidate to run the organisation full-time.

Ms Dent, who took a pension on retiring from Leeds Council after 40 years’ service last year, will be paid to work for one day a week at the body, which is responsible for marketing, investment and tourism.

Leeds Council refused to disclose the value of her pension and how much she would be paid for her Marketing Leeds commitments.

Ms Dent, who was awarded the OBE in the last New Year Honours, has been a non-executive director on the Marketing Leeds board for five years.

She will have particular responsibility for “finance and governance” and is expected to play an important role as the company takes on the functions of other publicly funded bodies in the city, such as Financial Leeds, Locate in Leeds, Visit Leeds, Leeds Visitor Centre and Conference Leeds.

Current chief executive Deborah Green had been widely considered to be one of the main candidates to lead the enlarged company, but she announced in July that she would step aside because she wanted to “end speculation” surrounding the new job.

Mrs Green, who held talks with the council about the role, will leave Marketing Leeds on Fri- day.

Tom Riordan, the chief executive of Leeds City Council, said the appointment had “been long in coming, but we will get the right person”.

He believed it was right to appoint a chairman of Marketing Leeds before appointing the next chief executive.

He added: “What we need is an even deeper and stronger partnership between business and the council.”

Financial Leeds’ switch to chamber

Financial Leeds, the organisation that promotes the Yorkshire region as a financial centre, last week revealed that it was transferring its membership activities, including its networking and lobbying roles, to the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

It was announced that Marketing Leeds will take responsibility for promoting the city’s strength in financial and professional services and attracting inward investment to the region.

Gary Williamson, chief executive of Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The transfer of Financial Leeds’ membership activities to the chamber will provide businesses with clarity as there will be one organisation providing support and representational activities rather than two.”