James Bidwell is to step down as chief executive of Visit London, the capital's tourism agency, at the end of this year and start a new job with the American lifestyle brand Anthropologie Europe. Is he leaving because he longs for a new challenge or because he's fed up?
Visit London stoutly deny that Bidwell's departure after three years in the role is anything to do with its receiving a "smaller than anticipated" increase in funding from the London Development Agency this year following the Treasury's comprehensive spending review. Nonetheless, were I a top notch marketing wizard I think I'd find the current mood music ominous.
In July, the LDA axed London Unlimited, a £5 million per annum body overseen by Bidwell and responsible for building London as a global brand. The LDA is not Visit London's only source of income – it has private sector funding streams too – but it does receive a tidy sum from them: £16 million for 2008/09, representing about three-quarters of its annual budget. The current climate does not suggest this is likely to increase much during the Olympic build-up years.
Throw in Mayor Johnson's rhetoric about value-for-money and LDA waste, and it is easy to imagine that moving to Anthropologie Europe might have been all the more appealing to Bidwell.
