LORRAINE Roger has quit as chief executive of tourism body The Mersey Partnership, citing “recent inaccurate and unhelpful press speculation” as the reason.
It follows an interview last week in which Liverpool City Council leader Joe Anderson was quoted as saying TMP had no future, after talks on merging it into the new Liverpool Local Enterprise Partnership collapsed.
The report claimed the reason for the collapse in the deal was a disagreement on how many of the 55 staff from TMP would transfer to the new organisation.
And when asked if Liverpool council, which part funds TMP, would pull out of the organisation, Joe said: “I don’t think the two organisations can survive, but the LEP has to survive.”
Today, however, Rod Holmes, chairman of TMP was adamant that it was “business as usual”. He added: “TMP will not be engaging in speculation or public discussion about the confidential discussions with the LEP.”
TMP was set up as a partnership between the public and private sector in 1993 to promote tourism and inward investment.
The LEP is a replacement for the Northwest Development Agency which will be wound-up in April. Its remit is to lead job creation and economic development for the Liverpool City Region.
Contribution
In a statement, TMP said: “The board wishes to put on record its sincere thanks to Lorraine for her valuable contribution to the organisation since she joined in 2007 at a time when TMP was in far less sound health than it is today. A recent independent report found TMP to be well run and financially robust.
Rod added: "Lorraine has made a substantial impact both in the internal operations of the organisation and in ensuring that there are resilient arrangements in place to ensure the effective harnessing of the opportunities in the key sectors of the region's economy where real growth can be achieved. We are grateful to her for the considerable work she has done and wish her well for the future."
