Martinson insisted that the move was a resignation and not part of the COI’s massive redundancy programme. He said that he was heading on to ‘new ventures’, which will be revealed shortly.
Martinson said: ‘I'm very proud of what our teams have achieved and the capability that COI now has in news and PR services across the country. COI is at another turning point and for me this is a good time to move on to new ventures. So I have decided to leave at the end of January.’
Martinson has previously had stints as director of communications at the Food Standards Agency and has worked at the BBC, Millennium Dome, Weber Shandwick, the Red Consultancy and Coca Cola UK.