Dudley Zoo gets new boss as councillor calls for answers
A new boss has been appointed at Dudley Zoo following the retirement of Peter Suddock - as the council's opposition leader calls for details surrounding his sudden departure to be made public.
Derek Grove has been appointed as zoo director and will lead the existing managing team at the attraction.
Mr Grove has worked at the zoo for 30 years and has progressed to the top after beginning as a junior keeper.
The 52-year-old most recently served as a senior curator.
It comes after Mr Suddock stepped down from his role as chief executive by 'mutual agreement' last week after 22 years at the helm following a suspension as an investigation was carried out into his conduct.
The zoo has said the inquiry closed following his retirement and that no further action will be taken.
It has made no further comment on the nature of the investigation.
Mr Suddock's wife Jill Hitchman also recently left her post as head of media at the attraction.
Councillor Patrick Harley, who leads the opposition Conservative group in Dudley, insisted as the zoo was an attraction for the public, and partly funded by the public purse, people had a right to know why Mr Suddock had been suspended.
He said: "I think the public have a right to know and should know.
"It is an organisation partly funded by Dudley Council taxpayers."
Councillor Harley said it was 'sad' that Mr Suddock had left in such circumstances.
He said: "Peter has served the zoo very well over the years.
"It is an extremely sad end to a distinguished career.
"He really has dragged the zoo up into a 21st century attraction, it was decaying and numbers were in decline. Now the numbers are where we want to be for a Dudley tourist attraction."
Mr Suddock started his career in the engineering industry. Following a spell as chairman at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, he became chief executive at Dudley Zoo in 1993.
He oversaw the turnaround of the zoo, which when he arrived had just 150,000 visitors in one year. Today it attracts 300,000 a year.