Simon Storey is leaving his role as Chief Executive at the end of the year to take up the position of Chief Executive Officer at Kent Cricket from January 2019.
Storey joined Derbyshire in 2012 and has overseen record growth in commercial revenue, led the successful bid to bring the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 to Derby and has overseen the £4.5million ground development of The County Ground including the state-of-the-art OKI Business & Media Centre, new changing rooms and refurbished Members’ facilities.
As well as offering an improved matchday experience, The County Ground is now a 365-day-a-year events venue hosting an annual fireworks display, Diwali celebrations and headline concerts including Sir Elton John and Little Mix.
Storey said: “It has been a difficult decision to leave Derbyshire after almost seven years. The Club has moved forward on so many fronts and I would like to say a big thank you to all the people who have supported me during my time as Chief Executive and backed the Club’s vision and pursuit of cricketing success.
“The Club has an extremely talented off-field team that has worked tirelessly to successfully grow the business over the last few years and helped to reinforce our cricket budget. This has helped underpin our recent progress on-the-field and I’m confident that there is an exciting future ahead under new Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton.
“The opportunity to lead the growth of the game across the entire Kent Cricket network including community, recreational and professional cricket, and to move back closer to my family roots, is one that I could not turn down.”
Derbyshire Chairman, Ian Morgan added: “Simon leaves with our good wishes and we wish him and his family every success with their relocation.
“Simon has played a vital role in the transformation of the Club and built tremendously strong partnerships that have driven revenue, increased our engagement with communities across the county and enabled the Club to progress on and off-the-field.
“The County Ground is unrecognisable compared to 2012 and the Club is well-placed to take advantage of the opportunities created by the inflow of new media rights monies from 2020.”
Ryan Duckett, who has served as Commercial Director since 2014, has been appointed Interim Chief Executive and will report to Ian Morgan, Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Morgan continued: “We have a talented and extremely committed off-field team in place and, as you would expect, a robust succession plan. We wish Ryan every success as he works with the Supervisory Board on our leadership transition plan.”
