The Suffolk Development Agency has appointed Scott Dolling as acting chief executive following Julian Munson's departure to take up a post in Australia.

The Suffolk Development Agency has appointed Scott Dolling as acting chief executive following Julian Munson's departure to take up a post in Australia. Scott has been promoted internally from his role heading the Suffolk Tourism Partnership, one of the key elements of the SDA's activity.

The SDA comprises private and public sector members is a countywide partnership created in 2003 to increase economic development. The small team of employees based at Felaw Maltings in Ipswich coordinates the Suffolk Tourism Partnership, Inward Investment marketing services, a Land & Property database, and the Suffolk Observatory which provides crucial data.

“There are various national and regional reviews underway at present and as we know the county's local authority boundaries are being considered,” said Scott.

“During this time there are some Suffolk wide themes that need to remain constant: Tourism, inward investment and the observatory provide relevant services across the county irrespective of where any new political boundaries may be drawn and through the SDA we can continue to offer visitors and investors a consistent message about our high quality offer.”

SDA chairman Terry Clark added: “The SDA is respected because it works closely with private industry as well as local authorities and regional bodies. Scott's work with the tourism partnership gives me confidence that these principles can continue to be developed in the coming months.

“The SDA like other Suffolk organisations is likely to be undergoing change and the Chief Executive's role will be reviewed once the nature of the changes are known over the next few months. During this period Scott will remain strategically involved in tourism but I am pleased to say that another of our team, Jim Brown, will take on much more tourism responsibility.”