Search closes in on £100k city marketing chief

The successful candidate will become the £100,000 chief executive of the new Marketing Leeds organisation, with responsibility for marketing, inward investment and tourism.

The company will replace the existing Marketing Leeds organisation and the myriad of other publicly funded services such as Financial Leeds, Locate in Leeds, Visit Leeds, Leeds Visitor Centre and Conference Leeds.

The panel overseeing the appointment process will quiz a number of candidates tomorrow after receiving a few dozen strong applications for the job.

They include people with backgrounds in development and inward investment roles at other cities and individuals from the private sector who are passionate about promoting Leeds.

It is understood that Deborah Green, chief executive of the existing Marketing Leeds, and Howard Kew, chief executive of Financial Leeds, are among those who will be interviewed.

The selection panel will produce a shortlist from the shortlist, who will face a second interview at the end of the month. An appointment is likely to be announced soon after, assuming the panel finds the right person for the job.

The panel is chaired by James Rogers, assistant chief executive of Leeds city council. Other members include Joanne Lake, chairwoman of Financial Services, Nigel McClea, chairman of Marketing Leeds, Martin Farrington, acting director of city development at Leeds City Council, and Gary Lumby, president of the city’s chamber of commerce.

They will be looking for someone who can provide a “clear and dynamic leadership, establish a clear strategic direction and develop a high profile for the company”. He or she will be charged with attracting more international companies to Leeds and raising the city’s profile as a destination for leisure and business tourism in the UK and overseas.

The CEO must also persuade the city’s businesses to contribute more to the running costs of the organisation.

Previously, the regional development agency provided much of the funding for the city’s various marketing, inward investment and tourism services.

But with the abolition of Yorkshire Forward, a greater onus will be placed on the private sector to provide support. However, businesses are likely to be reluctant to release funds for activities where return on investment cannot easily be demonstrated.

The organisation is expected to have some funding of its own, though, with speculation that its budget will be around £2.5m. It is could also have a staff of up to 40.

As a body, Marketing Leeds will have to work closely with the local enterprise partnership established for the Leeds city region.

The so-called Lep will share some goals and a challenge for both organisations will be to make sure they don’t work at odds with each other.

Complaints about duplication of services were common in the business community during the years when Yorkshire Forward was controlling economic development.

Communication between the two organisations will be key, say observers. Those watching the process of establishing both organisations have also questioned the wisdom of the decision to dismantle the regional development agency and set up replacement services anew.

“A lot of effort has gone into creating the Lep and things like the new Marketing Leeds. I’m sure we could have come to this point by taking the best bits of Yorkshire Forward and putting them into a new organisation, rather than building everything from scratch,” said one observer.

Chamber to appoint new president

The chief executive role at Marketing Leeds is not the only high-profile city post to be filled this year.

The Leeds Chamber of Commerce will be appointing a new president in September to replace Gary Lumby, the Yorkshire Bank director, who is standing down after three years in the role.

It is understood that the chamber’s board has a replacement in mind, but when asked about this, a spokeswoman said: “At the moment nothing is confirmed so I can’t provide any details I’m afraid.”

Mr Lumby became president in September 2008 and was the public face of the chamber during the financial crisis and subsequent recession.

The spokeswoman said he will hand over the presidency at this September’s annual general meeting.

She said terms vary between two and three years.