A new boss has been appointed to the £160,000-a-year job of running regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, it has been revealed today.

The board of the region’s most powerful quango has chosen Mick Laverty, the organisation’s deputy chief executive and corporate director of resources and operations. He will take over from chief executive John Edwards when he takes early retirement next March.

Mr Laverty’s appointment follows and intense two-and-a-half month search by AWM for a successor to Mr Edwards, who has run the development agency since 2000 – a year after it was set up.

When the job was advertised two months ago, AWM said it was role that required “political nous, tenacity, intellectual rigour and astuteness”. It is understood the choice came down to a shortlist of four people.

Mr Laverty will have a staff of 300 people and an annual budget of £300 million from the Government to delivery economic regeneration, job creation and improve the skills of the region’s workforce.

In addition to a £160,000 salary, the new chief executive will qualify for a 20 per cent performance-related bonus, which could take his annual pay to £192,000.

Mr Laverty is an accountant with a career background in local government in London and the Midlands.

He joined AWM when it was founded as the director of finance and strategy, and is currently responsible for all of the 2,500 projects and programmes funded by Advantage West Midlands in addition to the finance, human resources, facilities, and IT teams at the agency.

He also looks after AWM’s development work including schemes such Longbridge Technology Park in Birmingham and the i54 and Bilston Urban Village in the Black Country.

A 43-year-old father-of-four, Mr Laverty is described as a loyal Aston Villa fan and a keen runner – regularly taking part in runs.