The University of Law's president Nigel Savage will retire from his full-time post in April, after eighteen years leading the institution.

Savage, who has been awarded the title 'Emeritus President' for his contribution to the university, will be replaced by chief executive officer John Latham, who assumes the additional role of president.

When Savage joined in 1996, the college faced mounting criticism from City law firms for complacency and poor service.

Under his tenure, the university has expanded to become the largest provider of legal education in the world, and now has centres in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Chester, Guildford, Manchester and York.

In 2012, Savage and the management of the then College of Law presided over the £200m sale of the institution's legal education and training business to buyout house Montagu Private Equity, following a strategic review by the charity's governors.

That deal also saw the university spin out its charitable activities into a separate entity to be known as The Legal Education Foundation, which is used to fund bursaries, scholarships and grants for future law students as well as other charitable purposes.

"Under his stewardship, the university has become a genuinely national and international law school with a much more diverse and flexible range of programmes, becoming a powerful force in terms of thought leadership to the sector," commented the university's chairman Alan Bowkett.

"We owe him an enormous debt for the foresight that he has provided, both to the sector as a whole and the institution."

"It has been a great privilege to lead the university with the support of the staff and colleagues in senior management over the years," said Savage in a statement.

"It's also been a lot of fun, despite the inevitable ups and downs of running the organisation through several recessions, reviews and challenges in the market place. We have lots of exciting projects in the pipeline so now is the time to step aside and I am delighted to hand over the reins to John Latham."

Latham joined the university in autumn 2013 from Laureate Education, a global network of private universities, where he was vice president for international business development. He previously worked at the University of Manchester and the University of Liverpool.