THE boss of the inward investment body for our region has quit "to pursue my career in a different direction".

Members of the board of york-england.com were said to be surprised by the announcement that Imelda Havers would leave at the end of October.

Her resignation was announced in a memo to the organisation's board. A successor is yet to be found.

In her statement she said: "Given that I have helped to move the organisation through a period of great change, I believe that I now have the opportunity to pursue my career in a different direction."

But asked by the Evening Press exactly why she was leaving and where she was going, Mrs Havers said: "It has nothing to do with you. That is private. People come and go within organisations.

"People who read newspapers don't give a damn. It is not relevant. When I left my last job no one raised an eyebrow. I am not prepared to talk about it. What is important is york-england.com."

She was referring to news about other changes at the top of the organisation, whose new chairman will be Selby councillor Brian Percival, while a new vice-chairman will be Peter Wilkinson, a director of Pindar and DEI electrical contractors in Scarborough.

Coun Percival said today that Mrs Havers' departure was a "bolt from the blue" and would be "hugely regretted". He said it had nothing to do with his appointment, or a forthcoming employment tribunal involving the organisation's former marketing director Dave Taylor.

It is understood that other board members were surprised by Mrs Havers' decision.

She has a background in sales and marketing in a range of private sector companies, and more recently was project manager of St John's Urban Village, a major regeneration initiative in Wolverhampton.

She took over as chief executive of york-england.com from Frances Done, former chief executive of the Manchester Commonwealth Games organising committee.

Mrs Done had completed her six-month brief to oversee the transition of the York Inward Investment Board into an organisation with regional remit.

Since then Mrs Havers has counted among her successes the luring of 110 civil service jobs to the Defra building in King's Pool, Peasholme Green, York, and encouraging a big investment by First Locate into a call centre in Scarborough, initially providing about 40 jobs.

Mrs Havers, who intends to continue living in the York area, was praised today by Yorkshire Forward's business director, Susan Johnson, who said she had "provided excellent stewardship of york-england.com over recent years and has laid solid foundations to move the agency into its broader role in the sub-region".

But a cloud formed on the horizon when Mr Taylor won the right to take his bosses to an employment tribunal.

Mr Taylor, a City of York Council employee who was previously on secondment to Mrs Havers' organisation, is claiming that he suffered detriment due to exercising his rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

A preliminary hearing in Leeds last month was told that Mr Taylor made a number of disclosures about Mrs Havers, regarding her ability to carry out her job, the amount of time she spent out of the office, her alleged rudeness to external partners and her expenses claims. The full tribunal is expected to take place in November.

Coun Percival said: "Imelda's going will be hugely regretted. It was a bolt out of the blue and came four days after my election, but it had nothing to do with my arrival, nor with the employment tribunal involving the former marketing director.

"I was disappointed when she handed in her resignation, especially after the board had declared its total support for all staff."

york-england.com is York and North Yorkshire's recently re-constituted Inward Investment Board.

Evolving from the hugely successful York Inward Investment Board it now lures firms and jobs from all over the country and abroad to a wider geographical area, including the A1 and A64 corridors as well as Selby and York.

Updated: 09:54 Wednesday, July 20, 2005