David Davies, the chief executive of Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, yesterday confirmed he had given notice of his intention to resign, citing family reasons.
He plans to continue in his DVML role until March next year, when he will follow his family back to England.
The shock decision was confirmed in a written statement issued by DVML board chairman Sir John Hansen late yesterday, prompted by Otago Daily Times questions earlier in the day.
DVML staff were being informed late yesterday, and a press conference will be held at the stadium later this morning to update media on Mr Davies' decision.
Sir John, in his statement, said Mr Davies was yet to tender a formal resignation, but confirmed he had given the board notice of his intention to leave.
"Obviously we are very disappointed to lose him but understand he plans to return to England to join his family.
"We are sorry to be losing a person of David's calibre.
"He has brought a huge range of skills and expertise to the role and will be a great loss to the venue."
Mr Davies was not available for further comment last night, but, contacted by the ODT earlier in the day, acknowledged there was "some discussion around town" of his plans, because of changing family circumstances.
He initially denied he had any immediate plans to resign, but would not rule out a later departure.
"As of this moment in time, I've got no plans other than to just keep doing what we've been doing. But if that changes I'm sure you'll be the first to know."
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull could not be reached for comment last night, but council chief executive Paul Orders said Mr Davies had made a "significant" contribution to the stadium's launch, and his loss was "disappointing".
"It's always disappointing to lose from Dunedin someone of such calibre."
Mr Davies was appointed DVML's chief executive on an open-ended contract in October 2009, with an annual salary of up to $250,000 a year.
His appointment followed a four-month international search involving 92 candidates, which cost the Dunedin City Council about $66,000.
Mr Davies' appointment was heralded at the time as a crucial step towards making a success of the deeply controversial stadium project.
His CV included management positions with the Queens Park Rangers football club, London Wasps rugby club, concert promotion and venue management, including control of the Manchester Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe.
The arrival of Sir Elton John for last year's sellout show silenced some stadium critics, but others have continued to question the project's financial viability and the lack of a follow-up act to rival Sir Elton.
More difficult days also lie ahead for the stadium, with the findings of a PricewaterhouseCoopers audit of the stadium's final cost to be made public later this month, and release of DVML's six-month financial results pending.
The DVML results were expected to show the first six months of the financial year had been challenging for the company.
Mr Orders said he accepted Mr Davies' stated reasons for leaving, and did not think his decision was prompted by concerns about his own performance or that of the stadium.
That would be a question for Mr Davies or the DVML board, "but that's not my understanding of the position", Mr Orders said.
"I've no concerns about his performance ... I would say he arrived in Dunedin with an impressive reputation.
"I think he will leave with that reputation enhanced."
It was too soon to say how the search for a replacement would be handled, but DVML would be responsible for recruiting a replacement, Mr Orders said.
Finding a replacement of equal calibre would be a challenge, given the size of the stadium management recruitment pool was not "huge".
"But you do tend to find that there's significant turnover in that marketplace."
The "positive" news was Mr Davies had given sufficient notice for a "suitable successor" to be found, Mr Orders believed.
"That's a positive approach from David and the board."
Mr Davies, speaking earlier yesterday, said he did not want any talk of his plans to distract from his duties.
"At the moment I want to keep people focused on the issues that are at hand.
"I don't think it's helpful for me to be the source of the news. It should be the bigger issues."
