BARROW Borough Council has formally appointed its new boss.

Samantha Plum will join as executive director at the end of June or beginning of July.

She joins from Rossendale Borough Council in Lancashire where she is the communities director in the former mill town.

Her appointment to the £97,000-a-year post in Barrow was ratified by councillors at a meeting of the full council in the town hall.

The council has been searching for a replacement for long-serving boss, Phil Huck, who retired this month after a 32-year career.

Barrow council leader Cllr David Pidduck confirmed that Mrs Plum had been chosen as the outstanding candidate.

She had also received very positive feedback from members of council staff and had varied experience working for smaller and larger councils.

Cllr Pidduck said: “She was very impressive and will be a good asset for Barrow. She has a range of experience in terms of the types of projects she has been involved with.

“Obviously she wants to get to know the area and get to know the partners and the people that the council works with. She wants to come and visit the wards and walk around with the ward councillors to find out what the issues are.”

Cllr Pidduck added: “She struck me as the sort of person who will roll up her sleeves for Barrow, not suffer fools gladly and tell you how it is. We are hoping she will start towards the end of June and beginning of July although that could be down to her current employers.”

One of the first jobs that Mrs Plum will be involved in is spearheading a new council plan for the next four years.

Preparations will start after the elections in May. when all 36 seats in the chamber are up for re-election.

Cllr Pidduck, the Labour member for Hindpool, added: “It’s the first time we have had an external appointment for a number of years and it was a cross-party panel and decision with four members - three from the administration and Rory McClure, leader of the Conservative group.”

“We also wanted our staff to be part of the process so the staff actually met the candidates individually and had a presentation from them, and then the staff gave feedback. The feedback we got from the staff was excellent.”

After shortlisting, five candidates, four were interviewed for the position, which is one of only two posts in the council’s senior management team.

Cllr Pidduck said all the candidates who applied for the post were good quality.