Arts Council England Press Office

The nine-strong team is led by Chief Executive Alan Davey and consists of four National and four Area Executive Directors. They are:

• Alison Cole – Executive Director, Communications
• Laura Dyer – Area Executive Director (Midlands and South West)
• Althea Efunshile – Chief Operating Officer
• Anupam Ganguli – Executive Director Resources
• Andrew Nairne – Executive Director Arts
• Moira Sinclair – Area Executive Director London
• Andrea Stark – Area Executive Director East and South East
• To be announced – Area Executive Director North

Recruitment of a permanent Area Executive Director North is already underway and Andy Carver – currently Regional Executive Director in Yorkshire – will undertake the role in the interim. Andy will then leave the Arts Council when the permanent appointment is made.

Commenting on his interim appointment Andy Carver said: 'I am very pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the new leadership team as we ensure the continued success in sustaining and developing the arts in England.'

On his decision to leave the Arts Council Andy Carver said: 'I am immensely proud to have worked with the artists and arts organisations of Yorkshire but, after 17 years, I've made a personal decision to firstly take a break from work, and then take some time to explore a new direction. At this stage I've no idea what that direction is – which is actually quite exciting!'

With the exception of Alison Cole, who joins the Arts Council in November, all members of the new Executive Board will take up their new roles in a designate capacity from September 2009. They will focus on setting up their new teams as well as carrying out the responsibilities of their existing regional and national executive director roles.

To ensure a smooth transition, all existing regional executive directors will continue in their current roles until the new structure is established. Recruitment to this new structure is likely to be complete by Christmas 2009.

Alan Davey, Chief Executive of Arts Council England said: 'Establishing our new leadership group is an important first step in the transformation of the Arts Council.

'We’ve got a huge number of changes underway in how we go about our work, and the new Executive Board will lead those changes with vigour and a commitment to the values of openness, trust and respect in the way we work with others.

'I am proud of the way staff at all levels are tackling the changes with maturity and a continued commitment to our mission of enabling art in this country to be the best it can be, experienced by more people.'