The architect of Birmingham City Council’s £1 billion business transformation programme is quitting his job.

Glyn Evans, Corporate Director of Business Change at the council, is moving on a secondment basis to join the Warwick Business School.

Mr Evans joined the council eight years ago and was given the task of leading a pioneering transformation project, which seeks to save £1 billion over 10 years through investing in modern IT systems and developing more efficient ways of working, while at the same time significantly improving services.

He was instrumental in leading the development with Capita of the council’s joint venture company Service Birmingham, which is driving the IT revolution.

Although Mr Evans has had to face persistent claims from back bench councillors that transformation is not succeeding, the scheme has already identified £244 million of savings at the half-way point.

More than £700 million of the £1 billion projected for the 10 years to 2016 has now been secured, a council spokesman insisted.

The net benefit to the council’s general fund was £14.1 million last year, rising in 2011-2012 to £19.5 million – equivalent to almost six per cent of all council tax collected in the city, which would have to be found in other ways if it were not for business transformation.

With most of the business transformation work streams now entering the final phase, the council’s corporate transformation team is being dissolved.

Mr Evans will spend a year as a senior research associate in the International Centre for Governance and Public Management at Warwick Business School.

He said: “My strength as always been in the area of business change, and as far as Birmingham goes that mission has been a successful one.

“Through business transformation, the foundations for better service delivery have been successfully laid and the benefits are being reaped – it is now in the hands of those who work across the council on a day-to-day basis to ensure that this progress continues.

“I am going to miss the challenge that Birmingham has provided me. But the lessons I have learned here will be put to good use in my new academic role, in which I will be able to fly the flag for the city’s work on the transformation agenda.”

City council chief executive Stephen Hughes said: “Much has been done to modernise the services we provide to citizens over the last five years – Glyn has been at the centre of everything we have achieved.