Bridget McConnell who helped bring Commonwealth Games to Glasgow to retire

The woman instrumental in bringing the Commonwealth Games to Glasgow has described it as an “absolute honour” to have led the city’s sport and culture organisation as she announced she is set to retire.

Bridget McConnell will step down as chief executive of Glasgow Life in May after 24 years running the council charity, during which time the number of people attending culture and sport events grew more than a third to about 18 million a year.

Mrs McConnell, 63, said it had been “an incredible honour to have spent almost a quarter of a century working on behalf of this fantastic and unique city”.

“I could have scarcely imagined helping bring a handwritten original manuscript of Auld Lang Syne to the city or seeing Celtic Connections become a global brand, or winning and hosting the Commonwealth Games when I came here,” said Mrs McConnell, who is married to former Labour first minister, Jack McConnell.

“Glasgow’s reputation has grown around the world as a city ambitious for itself and for its unrivalled culture and sport, and has so much to look forward to, including the reopening of the Burrell Collection in March, the World Cycling Championships in 2023 and the World Indoor Athletics Championships in 2024.”

During her time at the helm of the organisation, she had a significant role in major city projects including the £35 million refurbishment of Kelvingrove Art Gallery as well as building the £74 million Riverside Museum and the £113 million Emirates Arena.

She was a key figure in bidding for the Commonwealth Games to come to the city in 2014, as well as also bringing the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships and the inaugural 2018 European Championships to Glasgow.

And during her tenure Glasgow also became the first UK Unesco City of Music, the first European Capital of Sport in 2003, and the organisation welcomed a raft of new partnerships including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and the Scottish Ballet at Tramway.

Councillor David McDonald, the chairman of Glasgow Life and Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council, thanked the outgoing chief executive for her “exceptional and dedicated work” and said she had been “one of Glasgow’s greatest assets for more than two decades”.

“Glasgow Life has become one of Scotland’s biggest charities under her leadership, helping people in Glasgow to live happier, healthier and more fulfilled lives,” he said.

In 2019, before the pandemic struck, Scotland’s biggest city welcomed some 2.5 million domestic and international visitors, boosting Glasgow’s economy by £774m.

During the pandemic, Mrs McConnell had been steering the redesign of Glasgow Life and advocating for its role in the economic and social recovery of the city.

She was made a CBE in 2015 for services to culture and was named a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017. She is also a director of Festival UK 2022 Ltd.

Glasgow Life delivers cultural, sporting and learning activities on behalf of Glasgow City Councils and has a wide range of facilities across Glasgow including museums, libraries, and leisure centres.