Manchester city council chief exec will step down from Olympic Delivery Authority board

Sir Howard Bernstein has been appointed as chairman of the ReBlackpool regeneration company.

The appointment means Bernstein, who is also chief executive of Manchester city council, will step down from the board of the Olympic Delivery in order to devote time to his new job.

Bernstein will now divide his time between duties in Manchester and overseeing regeneration projects in Blackpool, which include a planned £78m investment in sea defences and £100m on local transport.

Doug Garrett, chief executive of ReBlackpool, said: "We are delighted by the appointment of Sir Howard. We are now moving from planning into the crucial phase of delivering and implementing Blackpool’s masterplan and Sir Howard will play a key role in helping ReBlackpool achieve this.”

Bernstein, who played a key role in bringing the 17th Commonwealth Games to Manchester in 2002, has sat on the board of the ODA since April 2006. The ODA said a replacement would be sought in due course.

Bernstein said: "With regret I have resigned from the board of the Olympic Delivery Authority to ensure I am not over-committed and that my main focus of work can continue to be for the city of Manchester.

"I'm sure the project will go from strength to strength and I'm confident the Games will be a fantastic success for London and the whole of the UK."

Interview with Berstein