Herts Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Tim Hutchings will stand down at the end of the year.
The chief executive said: “After 18 years I think it is time for someone else to take over and I look forward to taking the opportunity of fulfilling a number of other personal ambitions.
“Before departing I would like to thank the enormous amount of people who have helped and supported me and the chamber over the years. They really have made my time here tremendously rewarding and enjoyable.”
Mr Hutchings stands down from the chamber as the UK’s longest serving chief executive of an accredited chamber having joined the Herts group in November 1994.