Manchester City Council chief executive Joanne Roney is set to return to her native Birmingham to take up a newly created post as managing director of its council.
Roney replaced Sir Howard Bernstein in the MCC leadership role seven years ago, becoming the first woman to serve as the council’s top officer.
In her new role, Roney will be tackling the challenge of turning Birmingham City Council’s fortunes around. Last year, the council declared itself effectively bankrupt. Former Birmingham council chief executive Deborah Cadman left in March this year.
MCC said the process of recruiting a new chief executive will start imminently. Roney will serve a notice period as the recruitment process gets underway, joining Birmingham City Council later in the year.
Roney said: “I’ve loved my time in Manchester. It’s a wonderful city and I’m proud of what – together with colleagues, partners and the city’s political leadership – we have been able to achieve here. Whoever follows me as chief executive is inheriting an incredible role alongside a talented and dedicated leadership team.
“I might be an adopted Mancunian, and proud of it, but I’m a native Brummie, and this was the only role which could have tempted me away. I began my career as an apprentice at Birmingham City Council at the age of 16, so the prospect of concluding it there as managing director – and helping the place where I grew up and my family still live rise to its current challenges – was a compelling one.”
Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Being chief executive of Manchester City Council is one of the best jobs, arguably the best job, in local government. You get to be at the heart of our globally recognised, growing city shaping how services are delivered and how our people and businesses can share in inclusive success.
“But I understand the emotional pull that the Birmingham job has for Joanne, and we wish her every success in her new role as she moves back home. We thank her for her service and her contribution to the city over the past seven years.
“As she would be the first to say, everything we do here is a team effort, and she will leave behind a strong and talented management team with a clear vision of where the city is going, its strengths to be built upon and celebrated, and the long-term challenges that we are addressing. It is, as ever, an exciting time in Manchester.”
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