The man who has led one of Manchester’s leading arts venues for a quarter of a century is to leave his role to become the city’s director of culture.

Dave Moutrey said being in charge of Home and its predecessor Cornerhouse for 26 years had been an “immense privilege” and leaving was “incredibly hard”.

Manchester City Council said his new role would see him help the city to achieve its cultural ambitions.

Deputy leader Luthfur Rahman said with “Dave at the helm, we want to go even further to harness the power we know the arts have to change and improve lives”.

Moutrey has held leadership roles in the arts in Manchester since 1984 and has worked part-time as director of culture since 2018.

He oversaw the merger of Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company and their move into the Home venue in 2016.

He said it would be “incredibly hard to leave such a great team of people, and our amazing venue”, but the “timing feels right to move on”.

Praising the partners and artists he had worked with for their “creativity and passion”, he added: “It has been an immense privilege.”

The council said his new role will see him lead the implementation of a new cultural strategy, which is due to be published in early 2024.