The Chief Executive of Nottingham Creative Quarter has left the project, it has been announced.
Kathy McArdle left the role on Friday (April 7) after leading the initiative for four years.
Centred around Hockley and Lace Market, the quarter is the city’s creative business district set up to drive employment and economic growth.
Its recent achievements include the regeneration of Sneinton Market as a creative business centre.
In 2015 the project won an international ‘Improving Business Environment’ award after bringing more than £3 million to the local economy and creating 650 jobs.
The project was praised by the European Commission, which gave it the accolade for its work with grass-roots entrepreneurs and use of EU funding.
In a news letter to supporters of the project, Ms McArdle wrote: “When I started working in the Creative Quarter (CQ), I never imagined we’d end up winning national and international awards.
“I never thought we would beat Manchester to take home the City of Football prize, or that Nottingham would enter the elite UNESCO Creative Cities network as a designated City of Literature.
“I had no idea that we’d find ourselves in a cool office in Sneinton Market, with a thriving creative business community all around us. And nothing in my job description prepared me for the hordes of creative people I have come to know and love in the area and the city over the last four years.”
She added: “The Creative Quarter initiative has a momentum now that we only, dreamed of in 2013, and Nottingham has a new Cultural Education Partnership led by the quarter to ensure we nurture the next creative generation in the city.”
Craig Chettle, chairman of the Creative Quarter Company, also thanked Ms McArdle for her efforts in the news letter.
“As a flagship of Nottingham’s City Deal, the Creative Quarter has become a catalyst for the city’s economic recovery and growth and we couldn’t have taken the project as far as we have, without Kathy’s considerable talent and boundless commitment,” he said.
“Kathy has led a dedicated team who have helped support the diverse range of businesses to start-up and grow in the area and given the CQ a strong identity in the city.”
“Over the last few years, the CQ initiative has won several major awards for its innovative approach to business and place-making, seeing it being regarded very highly across the UK and Europe.
“The board of the Creative Quarter wish her well in all her future endeavours and know she will bring the same flair and creative energy to her new projects as she brought to the CQ.”
