A TEESSIDE council executive is taking a change of direction just a year before he plans to retire.
Ralph Ferguson is director of technical services at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and has been with the council for 23 years.
The council structure is to change, with three departments - including his - being merged into two.
Mr Ferguson has accepted a one-year contract to run the Mapping the Market initiative, which will see more than £200m being spent in the borough in the coming years, as the council works with the private sector.
Once he retires, Mr Ferguson hopes to spend more time on his hobby - Harley Davidson motorbikes, which have been his passion since he was 16.
He said: "I am sad to be leaving the staff of the department because they are a good bunch of people, but the new job has lots of challenges ahead."
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