THE boss of an organisation behind plans to drive investment into the region is leaving his post to embark on an “exciting new chapter”.

Dr Simon Goon will step down as Business Durham’s managing director later this summer.

He will take up the position of chief operating officer at Synoptica, which uses software to provide a greater understanding of businesses and their markets.

Dr Goon has paid tribute to the “brilliant team” at Business Durham, which is Durham County Council’s business division, adding he will work with senior officials in the coming weeks to ensure operations remain smooth ahead of his departure.

He said: “I have enjoyed a great few years at Business Durham, helping the organisation to achieve its aim of supporting businesses to create wealth and jobs and driving enterprise and innovation.

“I’ve also worked with a brilliant team who care passionately about the economic development of County Durham.

I now look forward to an exciting new chapter working in a sector at the cutting edge of economic advancement.”

A former Sunderland University degree and PhD student, Dr Goon took over at Business Durham from Welshman Stewart Watkins in mid-2013, and has continued its endeavours to bring jobs and investment to the region.

Those ventures include backing for the North-East Satellite Applications Catapult Centre of Excellence, which has seen funding extended to help get firms into the space sector, and a commitment to deliver the Explorer development at Net- Park, in Sedgefield.

The latter will house facilities such as laboratories and clean room space for smaller firms to scale up work and forms part of a ten-year strategy to create thousands of jobs and pump £400m into the region’s economy.

It also comes after Dr Goon told The Northern Echo how the science base needed to expand to meet a waiting list of companies keen to raise their presence nationally and internationally.

He added: “It’s a bit of a cliché, but birds of a feather flock together."