Robin Evans has announced that he will step down as chief executive of the Canal and River Trust at the end of May 2013, after ten years at the helm.

He became chief executive of British Waterways July 2002 and oversaw its transition from a quango to the renamed charity last year.

Evans said: “I want pursue other interests and opportunities and now the Trust is firmly established I feel it’s the right time for me to move on and a perfect time for the Trust to have a new leader.”

He added: “It has been privilege to lead these two great organisations and I am very proud of what we have achieved over the past ten years.” By securing a 15-year funding deal with government and £500m of endowment property, “the Trust is on a more secure financial footing with a more positive outlook than we’ve probably ever had”.

Chair of the charity Tony Hales said: “He has served with great dedication and inspirational vision. His determination to see that vision realised in the foundation of the Trust, has transformed the long term prospects of the waterways.”

Trustees will now begin the recruitment process for a new chief executive.

• The Charity Finance Yearbook 2013 contains an article by Philip Ridal, finance director at the Canal and River Trust, recounting the challenges of facilitating the biggest-ever transfer of public assets out of the public sector into the charity sector to create the Trust. Subscribers to civilsociety.co.uk can read it here; to buy the Charity Finance Yearbook 2013, click here.