FORMER XL A&R EXEC SETS UP IN L.A.

XL Recordings Head of A&R Imran Ahmed is the latest Brit to jump ship and set up shop in Los Angeles, where he's running his own venture. MBW broke the news.

He announced his departure in an internal memo, which thanked XL chief Richard Russell as well as XL MD Ben Beardsworth and the heads of parent company Beggars Group, Martin Mills and Paul Redding.

“Handing in my notice was not a decision I came to lightly but I am excited by the new challenges ahead. I’m leaving to pursue my passion of finding, nurturing and breaking new artists from my current base in Los Angeles. I intend to do so with the same sense of integrity and respect that I have learnt during my time here.”

Russell brought in Ahmed more than 12 years ago and during his time there he signed Vampire Weekend, Jai Paul, Jungle and others.

Alongside his day job, Ahmed has a monthly new music show on NTS.