Neil Rami, currently chief executive of the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, has been appointed the new chief executive of Marketing Birmingham.

He will take up his position in October.

The chair of Marketing Birmingham, Ian Squires, said: “Neil has a proven track record of making a significant impact to the marketing of some of the UK’s leading regional cities and we look forward to working with him to ensure that Birmingham realises its true potential as one of Europe’s leading cities for business and leisure tourism.”

Rami was previously deputy chief executive of the Mersey Partnership – an organisation established in 1993 to attract investment and tourism to Liverpool and Merseyside – before joining the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative destination marketing and events development agency in 2000.