Coventry City Council’s chief executive has announced that he is to stand down from his position at the head of the authority next year.

Iain Roxburgh, aged 57 next week, is to retire at the end of April after 12 years with the council. He first announced that he would retire in 2001 in January.

He said:

“It is hard to think that it is 12 years since I came to Coventry. The time has flown and it has been a wonderful period in my life.

“The challenges, the successes, and the people I have worked with have all contributed to making Coventry one of the best places to be in local government.

“But there is always to move on and make way for new things, bother for Coventry City Council and for me in my own life.

“It is rumoured that I am the longest-serving Chief Executive of any metropolitan authority, and it feels right at the this tie that I move on and allow an opportunity for new talent and fresh ideas to take Coventry further forward.

“I have no immediate plans but I do know I am looking forward to having enough time to please myself. The prospect of time that had not been booked or allotted months in advance is very appealing.”

Mr Roxburgh, a civil engineer by training, and a former councillor in the London Borough of Brent, has contributed to national policy on several occasions, most recently on the New Deal.

He is chair of the University of Warwick research consortium on leadership, and has been clerk to the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority.

City council leader Cllr Nick Nolan said:

”Iain has served Coventry well and with integrity for more than a decade. He has steered the authority through good and occasionally bad times and has been instrumental in many of the developments that have drawn the authority national praise.

“He has worked continually to develop and sustain the council’s community leadership role in the city, and has worked with local, regional and national partners to bring economic and social benefits to our city.

“We will now begin the process of ensuring that the next holder of this post will also be fully committed to Coventry, its council, its people and its future.”