THE high profile chief executive of business development agency Invest NI is quitting his post after ten years in charge.
Alastair Hamilton (53), who took up the post in April 2009 in succession to Leslie Morrison, says he intends to explore new opportunities and "further expand my other areas of interest”.
In his resignation letter, Mr Hamilton - who was on a salary of more than £200,000 - said it had always been his intention to step down after 10 years in the post.
But the announcement still came as a shock to most staff at Invest NI and to the wider business community in the north, where he was held in high regard.
Mr Hamilton said it was "an honour and privilege to have been able to serve the organisation and my home country in such a significant role".
He said he does not intend to move to another full time role, and was making the announcement now to allow time to advertise and fill the role before his departure in the the autumn, and facilitate a timely transition for the Invest NI board.
Mr Hamilton brought a wealth of business experience and strong leadership skills to the role, and in the 2011-2016 corporate plan - the only full one he will have overseen - the agency is credited with creating 34,000 jobs, promoting another 42,000 posts, and investing £3.9 billion, which in turn helped attract 87 new foreign investors.
From an engineering and telecommunications background, he spent 12 years in various roles within BT, culminating in 2005 in his appointment as managing director for the all-Ireland business.
But in 2007 he left BT to take become chief economic and business adviser to then First Minister Rev Ian Paisley, with whom he had a close friendship.
During all of his time in the Invest NI, he dealt with only DUP economy ministers, including Arlene Foster.
In the tweet yesterday the DUP leader said: "It was my great privilege and pleasure to work with Alastair for many years. He shared my passion to make Northern Ireland a great place to do business with more and better jobs. He will be able to look back with pride at all he has achieved."
Since the suspension of the Stormont Executive more than two years ago, Mr Hamilton had been the public face of investment announcements in the north.
On Monday past he welcomed the seventh new US inward investment this financial year, a project by cyber security firm Signifyd which will see it create 150 jobs at a global R&D centre in Belfast.
Speaking to The Irish News, Mr Hamilton, who has advocated for agreement on a Brexit withdrawal deal, said Invest NI is prepared for whatever outcome comes to pass on March 29.
"Clearly there are challenges on the export side in the event of a no-deal Brexit. I think what will happen is a lot of our effort will skew much more towards the exports and export support side and we're already making plans for that," he said.
Invest NI said the recruitment process to find Mr Hamilton's successor "will begin in the near future".
