The new Chief Executive of Advantage West Midlands has been named as Mick Laverty.
He will succeed John Edwards as Chief Executive of the Regional Development Agency when he stands down in April next year, after eight years in charge.
Nick Paul, Chairman of Advantage West Midlands, said: “Mick’s commitment to Advantage West Midlands since he joined in 1999 has been unstinting. He has been a major contributor to the success of the Agency and the region over that time.
“His thorough knowledge of the West Midlands and his drive and determination to succeed have been invaluable to both the Agency and the region.
“I’m delighted he will now be able to bring his undoubted leadership skills to bear as our Chief Executive.”
Mick is currently Deputy Chief Executive at Advantage West Midlands responsible for all Agency projects and programmes, including major land and property developments such as New Street Station, Eastside, Longbridge and Ansty.
Mick was also responsible for the creation and management of the Agency’s £120m property investment company PxP – a joint venture with Langtree/Bank of Scotland.
He began his career as a chartered accountant in local government in London and the Midlands.
He joined the agency in 1999 as Director of Finance and Strategy and led the development of the region’s first two economic strategies in 2001 and 2004.
More recently he has overseen the Agency’s work on access to finance, including the creation of a number of venture capital funds and Investbx – a web based regional stock exchange.
He is also a board member of Midlands Excellence, Wolverhampton Development Company, the Black Country Consortium, PxP, Investbx and Birmingham City Council’s Excellence Board.
Nick Paul said: “This is a time of real opportunity both for the region as a whole and Advantage West Midlands as an agency.
“We are about to publish a new economic strategy for the region, which sets out the region’s approach to tackling the £10bn output gap, worth around £2,000 for every man, woman and child in the West Midlands.
“We are also moving towards creating the first ever integrated regional strategy aligning economic growth and its key enablers – housing, spatial policy, and transport.
“This is a huge opportunity for the region to take more control of our destiny and will be achieved by building on the successes we have delivered together as a region.
“I’m confident that Mick will provide real leadership for the Agency and the region through this exciting period.”