Wanted: PR guru to sell Edinburgh to the world (salary £110k)

Published on Wednesday 26 January 2011 13:48

HEADHUNTERS have been called in to carry out a search for a high-profile figure who will be charged with promoting Edinburgh on the world stage.

A recruitment drive is underway to find a chief executive for a new body that will be responsible for promoting Scotland's capital amid fears its efforts are lagging behind those of rivals such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow.

Executive search specialist FWB has been brought in by the city council to lead the hunt for a powerful new figurehead for the capital, following widespread concern from business figures that the city was not selling itself hard enough, particularly overseas.

It is understood a salary of about 110,000 will be offered to the successful candidate, who will spearhead efforts to promote Edinburgh as a leading tourism destination, a hub for inward investment and the creative industries, and a world-class place to live and study.

They will lead a new body, Marketing Edinburgh, which is being formed from an existing fledgling "marketing alliance" set up by the council, the city's business tourism unit and Edinburgh's long-running film location agency.

A key responsibility of the chief executive will be increasing the amount of money Edinburgh spends on promoting itself, from the current figure of about 2 million a year - compared with 6.2m spent by Manchester, 4.9m by Glasgow, 3.4m by Newcastle and 4.8m by Leeds - to about 5m.

The headhunters, whose clients have included John Menzies, Aggreko and the National Trust for Scotland, are expected to target potential candidates in the both the public and private sector across the UK, and it is understood overseas candidates will also be explored.

The job description describes the post as offering a "unique opportunity" to lead the promotion of an internationally renowned capital city.

It adds: "Suitable candidates will be visible, prolific networkers who build and value strong collaborative relationships and have a highly successful track record in a leadership role, and are accustomed to exceeding ambitious and measurable corporate targets. A background in business development, marketing and/or communications in an international context would be of significant interest."

Although a board of directors for the new company is not yet in place, it is hoped it will be formally up and running by the spring.A recruitment panel made up of city council leader Jenny Dawe, and senior officials at National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh University and Lloyds Banking Group is expected to make an appointment as early as next month.

Alan Johnston, chairman of Marketing Edinburgh, who has held the same position at the Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Tom Buchanan, economic development leader at the city council, which is providing the bulk of the funding to get the new body off the ground, said a single promotional body for the city would have the "clout to attract the levels of private sector investment required to exploit our city's strengths to the full".

Movers and shakers who might fit the bill

GLASGOW: Scott Taylor, chief executive of the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, helped develop the organisation in April 2005, and has run it ever since. After graduating from Strathclyde University, he worked in marketing and the hotel trade before joining Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board in 1998.

MANCHESTER: Andrew Stokes joined Marketing Manchester in 1999, and in November 2001 became chief executive. He began his career in marketing in Liverpool's theatres before working for the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Opera House.

BIRMINGHAM: Neil Rami was appointed chief executive of Marketing Birmingham in October 2004. Before this, he was chief executive of the Newcastle-Gateshead Initiative. He is a board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

NEWCASTLE: Sarah Stewart was appointed interim chief executive of the Newcastle-Gateshead Initiative in May last year, having previously been marketing director of The Sage arts centre. She studied at Cambridge, before training as a brand manager with Proctor & Gamble.