The Stage

Pulford to step down as head of SOLT/TMA

Published Tuesday 23 March 2010 at 20:20 by Alistair Smith

Richard Pulford is to retire as chief executive of the Society of London Theatre and the Theatrical Management Association at the end of this year.

Pulford has served as joint chief executive for the two organisations since 2001, when he succeeded Rupert Rhymes. Prior to that, he worked as a freelance arts consultant following spells as general director (administration) at the Southbank Centre and deputy secretary general of the Arts Council of Great Britain. SOLT and TMA have begun the search for his successor and have appointed headhunters Odgers to oversee the process.

“John Harvey-Jones, that very sensible man, once observed that you should never stay in one job for less than three years or more than seven,” Pulford told The Stage.

“I shall have been here, by the end of the year, for nine years, which is the longest I’ve ever stayed in a job.

“I’m over 65, the retirement age strictly speaking, and I just think it’s time to move on and do something else. “

He added that he would continue to work in the arts as a freelance consultant. “Ideally, I suppose I’d like to have half of my time to myself and of the remaining half, I’d like half to be paid consultancy and half to be pro bono work,” he said.

Pulford also said that while a date of December 31 had been set for him to step down, he would stay in the post for longer if the recruitment for his successor had not been completed. The greatest challenge facing the future chief executive is likely to be “a squeeze on levels of public subsidy,” he believes.

Both the presidents of SOLT and the TMA paid tribute to Pulford’s work for the organisations. SOLT president Nica Burns said he would be “a hard act to follow”, while TMA president Derek Nicholls added that his “long experience, wisdom and shrewdness - as well as his quiet sense of humour - have been invaluable”.