Robert Collier is retiring as leader of the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce by March 2016, having served seven years in the post.
“Bob Collier has led the Chamber through an extraordinary period of achievement,” said Alec Carstairs, president of the Chamber.
“We are proud of our successes over the past few years, including the Chamber of the Year title we won in 2014, and this is in a large part down to his leadership and the performance of the team at the Chamber.
“The knowledge, expertise and high public profile he displays in the North-east business community means it is a big pair of shoes to fill.”
“After a good run as the chief executive of the best Chamber of Commerce in the UK, I think it is the right time for the organisation to recruit fresh thinking to keep delivering for members of the Chamber,” said Mr Collier.
“My own plans are to pursue a range of interests rather than seek another full time executive role, meantime my focus will be on helping the board to find the best candidate for the job to ensure a seamless transition.”
The Chamber board has appointed a recruitment panel chaired by Mr Carstairs to find a successor, with executive search company FWB Park Brown appointed to support the search.
Mr Collier has served as chief executive since April 2009.
He is a member of the Board and Council of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, as well as a member of the boards of Arts & Business Scotland, Aberdeen Inspired and Aberdeen City Heritage Trust.
He is also contributes to the Energy Jobs Taskforce, and represents the Chamber on the steering groups for City Centre Regeneration, Energetica and the Knowledge Transfer Partnership.
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) is North-east Scotland's leading private sector, member-focused, business organisation. The Chamber represents more than 1,350 businesses with almost 130,000 employees in the private sector covering all industry sectors, ranging in size from sole traders to multi-national corporations.
The chief executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has announced that he is to stand down.