Laura Pye has been named director of National Museums Liverpool (NML), with the current head of culture for Bristol City Council to take up her new position in August.

Returning to her hometown of Liverpool, Pye will be responsible for eight venues, including some of the most visited museums in England outside of London. Laura joins following a career in the sector focused mainly on museum education.

Working in her current role, Pye has overall responsibility for five museums – Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, MSHED, Blaise Castle House, Red Lodge and the Georgian House – as well as the Bristol Record Office, the City Arts Programme, Bristol Film Office and the Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre.

She replaces David Fleming, who retired in March after taking up the position in 2001. During his lengthy run, he supervised the completion of several major capital projects, including the £45m (US$60m, €51.5m) Into The Future project, which featured major refurbishment of both the Walker Art Gallery and World Museum, the opening of the International Slavery Museum in 2007, and the creation and opening of the Museum of Liverpool in 2011.

"We’ve recently had our highest annual visitor figure ever, and with ground-breaking exhibitions including China’s First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors and Double Fantasy: John & Yoko it’s an incredibly exciting time for Laura to be joining us," said NML chair, Sir David Henshaw.

“We want to continue to be the leading example of an inclusive museum service, and Laura will be an inspiring director for our passionate and committed team here at National Museums Liverpool.”