Invest NI chair Rose Mary Stalker to step down

Rose Mary Stalker has been on the Invest NI board for more than a decade

The chair of Invest NI, Northern Ireland's economic development agency, is not seeking a further extension of her term.

Rose Mary Stalker will step down from the role next week.

Invest NI was the subject of a scathing independent review, earlier this month.

It found it was being damaged by toxic relationships among its leadership. It concluded that Invest NI needed urgent improvements in leadership, operations and public accountability.

The review heard "widespread concern" that Invest NI's board, and in particular Ms Stalker, had at times become too involved in operational issues.

However, it said this may have been "the result of frustrations concerning a perceived lack of transparency within the organisation".

Invest NI's interim chief executive, Mel Chittock, told the review that there had been "unhelpful" operational interference from the board.

Ms Stalker, a former senior executive at Ford, has been on the Invest NI board since 2012.

'Pathway for change'

Her initial three-year term as chair ended in July 2022, but former NI Economy Minister Gordon Lyons extended it until 31 January 2023, to cover the period of the review.

In a statement, Ms Stalker said the independent review "provides a pathway for the change necessary to reset and refocus Invest NI".

"I welcome the recommendations contained within it and, indeed, the board has already been working on many of them.

"However, it will take time to fully engage and refocus the whole organisation and it is important that the incoming chair has the scope and tenure to take full ownership of the process, working together with the Department for the Economy and stakeholders.

"In light of this and having served for nearly 11 years as both a board member and latterly as chair, and with my extended term coming to a natural close at end of January, I have decided that it is time to pass on the baton."

The department thanked Ms Stalker for "the dedication she has demonstrated during her time as a board member and her subsequent term as chair".

It will appoint an interim chair while recruitment for a permanent replacement takes place.