Nick Dodds, who has resigned as chief executive of Brighton Dome and Festival, speaks to Rachel Wareing about the highs and lows at the helm of two of Brighton's greatest arts institutions.

When Nick Dodds was appointed chief executive eight years ago, he was faced with three challenges: to unite Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival as a single organisation, relaunch the Festival and refurbish the Dome complex.

The latter was already well underway on Nick's arrival, though the work was 18 months behind schedule.

It was a massive project. Corridors were swept away, the entrance was moved from one side of the building to the other, a Thirties-era decorative scheme was recreated in the grand hall and the concert hall was gutted and rebuilt.

The work went 25 per cent over budget and as a result some elements had to be missed out, such as a piece of public artwork at the front of the building.

Mr Dodds managed to meet the shortfall, raising an extra £8million from Brighton and Hove City Council, the Arts Council and private donors.

He said: "It's easy in hindsight to criticise and ask why the people making decisions in the nineties did not get the total right, but the building is 200 years old and as the work went on they found a lot wrong with it."

In the past decade the Dome's turnover has rocketed from £1 million to £10 million per year.

In its council-run days, said Mr Dodds, it was merely a 'hall for hire'.

Today it is the brightest jewel in the city's cultural crown, its architecture a work of art itself.

The improved facilities means the Dome now plays host to conferences and product launches, raising £500,000 per year which subsidises the charity's arts provision.

It has become an important source of funding, and along with the increased grants and sponsorship secured by Mr Dodds and his team over the past seven years it has been key to the ongoing success of the Dome and of the Festival, which has doubled in size since 2000.

As Mr Dodds said: "However creative you are, however great your ideas are, if you haven't the money you can't put them into practice."

He looks back on the re-opening of the Dome as one of the highlights of his career in Brighton, though it was also the occasion of a career low.

A last-minute hitch meant the building did not get awarded its fire safety certificate in time for the launch, which then had to be postponed.

As agonising as that was, when Mr Dodds looks back on the last seven years there are plenty more good memories to savour.

He said: "One of the things I was most overwhelmed by was Group F's pyrotechnics performance in Preston Park during the Festival in 2006.

"There were 70,000 people there and not a single policeman, and it all went without a hitch."

Having the London Philharmonic Orchestra in residence at the Dome has been another coup, he said.

So why is he now choosing to leave?

"It's a case of job done", he said, as he sat surrounded by piles of packing boxes in his office in Pavilion Buildings.

Having met the three challenges he was faced with eight years ago, he is now setting himself one of his own.

He plans to stay in Brighton and set up a festival and events consultancy, with a second office in Edinburgh.

Although he admits it will be strange to see and hear the festival going on around him this summer, he plans to keep his distance for a while to enable his successor to settle in.

He is also relishing the chance to spend more time at home with his wife and three children, who are all school-aged.

He said: "I've been out four or five nights a week for the past eight years. It's very nice but it doesn't leave much time for family life."

The recruitment process for his successor is well under way and an announcement is expected in the not-too distant future.

Mr Dodds said: "It's a great job and they'll have no problem finding someone really good."

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