Looking back over Mark Elcomb's first few months he says: "I have been struck by the huge amount of behind the scenes planning and organisation which underpin all aspects of the Cathedral's life and which are so necessary to co-ordinate the scale of the activity within both the building and the Close.

"The management challenge is a constant balancing act between our primary purpose as a place of worship, and as one of Britain's most visited Cathedrals.

"The Cathedral is open every day of the year which means that maintenance of the building and other everyday tasks have to be carefully planned to dovetail with our other activities.

"As stewards of this magnificent, historic building we are also committed to spending in excess of £800,000 a year through to 2015 in order to complete the Major Repair Programme.

"I have been heartened by the number of people who understand that it is expensive to run an enterprise such as this, if we are to maintain the range and quality of what we offer. We need to raise around £10,000 each day.

"Whilst we do everything we can to minimise our costs, we do need to ask people to contribute towards them.

"My first few weeks have been a steep, but very enjoyable learning curve. The Cathedral is the Mother Church of a large diocese and I have noticed particularly how we are working hard to ensure that we seek to be accessible to all those who live, work and worship in the diocese.

"I can't claim to have met all of our 600 volunteers, but I have seen very many of them at work in and around the Cathedral. I appreciate the very warm welcome which they offer to visitors and the contribution which they make to our worship. I know just how fortunate we are to receive this level and quality of support. Alongside the volunteers our permanent staff provide a very professional service.

"Joining the Cathedral at this time has been a particularly invigorating experience, as we are nearing the completion of a major re-visioning exercise. Although my job, in essence, is to manage and administer the day to day running of the Cathedral, I have had the opportunity to contribute towards setting our long term objectives and more particularly how we will go about achieving these. It is also important that as the City undertakes its own study we are able to work together.

"The first two months have been enjoyable and challenging with the potential of an equally busy life ahead. I would have it no other way."