A director of Premier League football club West Bromwich Albion has been named as the new president of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce.

Adrian Wright is the club's sales and marketing director and steps into the new chamber role following the decision of Kevin Rogers to stand down because of work commitments shortly before he was due to commence his term.

Mr Wright has helped to more than doubled Albion's commercial income since his appointment in 2009 and has more recently been at the forefront of developing its links with the booming Indian football market.

He was previously head of corporate sales at Birmingham City.

Mr Wright said: "Obviously, I am delighted by this opportunity, albeit my feelings are tinged with sadness. Kevin is a great leader and I was looking forward to working with him to deliver great results.

"The Black Country is a great place for business and I want to make sure that we navigate our way through the global headwinds and establish ourselves as the premier location worldwide for what we do best."

Mr Rogers, who is chief executive of health cover company Paycare, said: "The demands placed on me as a result of our growth, to ensure that we continue to deliver the very best customer care to our policyholders and the local community as well as our own team, means it is with sincere regret I have had to withdraw from my planned presidency of teh chamber.

"My decision has not been taken lightly and I am disappointed not to be able to represent the wonderful businesses in our region, nor to be able to help drive forward further positive change.

"I do however want to take this opportunity to wish the ongoing chamber team every success for the future."

The outgoing president is Ninder Johal, managing director of Nachural Records and Nachural Corporate Communications which offers staging, lighting, video production and sound for events.