English National Opera (ENO) has announced that its chair, Martyn Rose, will step down on 15 February after just two years in the post.

“It has been a privilege to serve as chair of ENO,” said Rose. “ENO has faced a challenging and testing period during my time as chair.

“My priority has been to help shape and prepare the organisation for the changes necessary to ensure that it can continue to flourish with reduced public funding and maintain its production and artistic excellence. I wish ENO every success for the future.”

ENO faced heavy Arts Council England funding cuts during Rose’s time as chair.

In 2014, the opera company was one of the biggest losers in Arts Council England’s three-year settlement, with a funding cut of almost a third to £12.4m.

The cuts followed an examination of the charity by the Arts Council, which concluded it had struggled to meet box office targets and needed “radical change”.

But the analysis did acknowledge that the ENO was attempting to shape a new business model and was managing to turn poor box office fortunes into an 11 per cent rise from the previous year – including an average rise in takings of 13 per cent.

In 2014, ENO was given “transition funding” of £7.6m by Arts Council England, to help it cope with the reduced grant while building a sustainable business model.

Current trustee, Harry Brunjes, will step in as acting chair until a replacement is found.

Speaking on behalf of the board, Brunjes said: “We have been fortunate to have Martyn as our chair through a very demanding period for ENO. He has led the organisation successfully through his time, ensuring that we have the right commercial and artistic plans to thrive with the reality of less public subsidy in the future.

“Now that our plans for the future are agreed and ready for review by Arts Council England, our focus must be on the execution of these plans. That is the immediate priority for me, the board, and the executive team.”

Rose was also chair of the Big Society Network.