New Southend council chief executive role advertised with £100,000 salary

A new council position is being created with a salary of over £100,000 a year to increase visitor numbers.

Southend-on-Sea City Council has announced the appointment of a Director of Culture and Tourism to help organise events and help the area thrive.

When the Labour government came to power in May, it announced plans to host dozens of events on the High Street and the pier.

Council leader Daniel Cowan said hosting 20 weeks of events in the Essex city “requires a lot of organisation and strategic direction”.

The new director will work with an existing council team, but will be strengthened with additional staff.

The authority had set aside a budget of £170,000 for the position, with the new director set to receive a salary of around £101,000, similar to that of a chief executive.

“We have the ambition to organize at least six major events in the city each year and at least 20 weeks of events on the pier each year.”

He added: “This requires a lot of organisation and strategic direction.

“It was a role we had previously. When the previous manager left, the role was vacant and was abolished under the previous management. We feel that as Southend has a large tourism industry that attracts seven million visitors a year, we cannot afford to lose this role. That is why we are bringing it back.”

A vacancy has been posted online and interested parties should apply before August 12th.

Interviews were scheduled for September and the selected candidate was expected to start work next year.

Mr Cowan added: “The council is not short of ideas or potential opportunities with partners. What we are short of is the resource to deliver our ambitions and so we need to ensure we have the right people in the right place.

“That team is really important to us in attracting visitors to Southend, which not only benefits the council but more importantly the residents and our local businesses.”

Tony Cox, leader of the Conservative Group, questioned where the money was coming from, given the “£1.9m shortfall”.

He said: “They say they need one, but where are they going to get it from? They haven’t identified any savings in the year yet.”