CBI boss Richard Lambert to step down in 2011

Updated: 04:48 EST, 29 June 2010

CBI boss Richard Lambert is to step down in 2011 after nearly five years at the helm of the business lobby group.

The CBI said Mr Lambert - who took up the post of director general in July 2006 - is to leave early next year.

It confirmed head-hunters have been appointed to lead a search for his successor.
Mr Lambert said it was the 'right time in the political and economic cycle for me to hand over to a new director-general'.

The CBI praised Mr Lambert for his 'experience and wise counsel' throughout the credit crunch

He added: 'The new Government is in place and is generating a huge range of policy issues which the CBI is getting stuck into.

'And the economy is moving into a new phase, in which business investment and trade will be the essential engines of recovery.'

The CBI praised Mr Lambert for his 'experience and wise counsel' throughout the credit crunch and subsequent recession, which dominated his tenure at the group.
He said he had 'no definite plans' after leaving the CBI, which aims to represent the interests of some 240,000 businesses across the UK.

Mr Lambert was previously editor of the Financial Times newspaper for 10 years, during which time he launched the title in the US.

He was also a member of the Bank of England rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee between 2003 and 2006.

Mr Lambert is also a trustee of the British Museum and was named chancellor of the University of Warwick in August 2008.