Andy Haldane is stepping down from his role as chief executive of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts (RSA) to take a career break.
The former chief economist at the Bank of England will stay at the charity, one of the UK’s leading arts and innovation third sector bodies, half-way through the year after he has helped appoint his successor.
Haldane’s decision to leave brings to an end his four-year stint heading up the RSA, before which he had spent over 32 years at the Bank of England, with seven of them on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
The widely respected central banking veteran, who in 2014 was named as one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world, did not elucidate on future career plans beyond saying he would be taking a break.
In a statement he said: “I have hugely enjoyed my approaching four years at the RSA as CEO. Working with staff and fellows, we have completely transformed the RSA for the better.
“I am very proud of what we have collectively achieved. And I could not be more confident that the RSA, a great institution, will go on to even greater heights in the future, drawing on the fantastic support of staff and Fellows.”
Haldane weathered several flashpoints at the 270-year-old charity during his tenure. In September 2023, RSA staff voted to strike for the first time in its history, triggering months of negotiations between the charity and its staff’s union that were eventually settled the following May.
And last year, the charity found itself in the crosshairs of discourse around Israel and Palestine, after it hosted a three-day event for the Israeli Chamber of Commerce at its London headquarters.
The charity’s new chair, Loyd Grossman, praised Haldane’s time at the RSA, saying he had left the revered institution in a “strong position”.
“My fellow trustees and I are extremely grateful to Andy for his inspirational leadership and significant contribution,” Grossman said. “He has led the RSA with great skill and diligence, growing the organisation globally and domestically.”
During his time at the RSA, Haldane has remained an influential voice on economic and monetary policy, and recently used a set-piece interview with Sky News to warn the Chancellor that spending cuts risked a “doom loop”.
Speaking shortly after last month’s aggressive gilt sell-off, which sparked speculation that Rachel Reeves would have to rein in government spending in order to hit her fiscal rules, he said: “[Cuts] would be deeply counterproductive to both growth and to the fiscal position if [the forecasts] led to a cutting back on investment and indeed in spending more generally.
“Then I think you really are into a doom loop between debt and growth. And that’s a situation to avoid at all costs.”