Eden Project's Sir Tim Smit RESIGNS

Sir Tim Smit, Eden Project co-founder
-Credit: (Image: Eden Project)


Sir Tim Smit has resigned as the director of the Eden Project after more than 24 years at the helm. Smit, who co-founded the Eden Project in 2000, will be taking on a new role.

The Dutch-born businessman, who jointly created the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project, is currently taking a short break from work. A spokesperson said he recently "stepped back" from his executive role at the attraction that has in the past seen more than 1,000,000 visitors a year.

Companies House - the UK's official register of companies and limited liability partnerships - states that Sir Tim Smit, 70, resigned as a director of four companies associated with the Project, near St Austell, last month. He resigned from each of them on August 16.

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Those companies include Eden Trading Limited, Eden Project Limited, Eden Project International Limited and Eden Regeneration Ltd. The doors to Eden opened officially for the first time on March 17, 2001, after seven years of dreaming from Sir Smit and the team.

What started off as an abandoned clay pit - just a redundant hole in the ground - turned into one of the country's most spectacular of places and led the way for so many more projects just like it across the globe.

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Described as once being just "a twinkle" in Sir Tim Smit's eye, he thanked what he called the 'Tinkerbell theory' for the Eden Project coming to fruition, saying "if you believe in something enough, it will happen".

An Eden Project spokesperson said of his resignation: “Sir Tim Smit, Eden Project co-founder, recently stepped back from an executive role at the project and is now taking a short break before beginning the role of senior advisor to incoming group chief executive officer Andy Jasper and Orna NiChionna, the chair of Eden Project Trustees."

They added: "He will continue in his public facing ambassadorial role. Andy, Orna and the Eden Project team are looking forward to continuing to work closely with Tim.”

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