Sir Nicholas Hytner to step down as National Theatre artistic director

Sir Nicholas Hytner, who has presided over what has been, by near universal acclaim, a golden decade in the history of the National theatre, is to step down as its artistic director in March 2015.

His proudest achievement, he said, was "that we do such a wide-ranging repertoire, with so many different directors and actors, and that we find big audiences for everything we do".

He added: "It's a mantra of mine that you can be both challenging and popular, and we have managed that. I am very proud of it." He said he would "miss all the people I work with here. I dread not seeing them every day".

Hytner, 56, is credited with creating an artistically vibrant theatre that has both produced strings of hits, such as War Horse and The History Boys, and become a place where Britain can hold a mirror to itself – whether through state-of-the-nation works, such as London Road, or by timely productions of the classics, such as Hytner's own Henry V, which played during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

One of his chief achievements was persuading the firm Travelex to sponsor £10 tickets (now £12), and instigating broadcasts of the National's work in cinemas.

An outspoken campaigner for government support of the arts, Hytner also leaves a theatre in good financial health, insulated against the coalition's funding cuts by commercial successes on Broadway and in the West End.

And, though the National has received criticism for engaging relatively few women directors and writers, he said: "I am delighted that the number of writers under commission is now equally male and female."

His resignation comes as no surprise: he has previously signalled that the optimum time to go would be after the National's current £70m redevelopment, which sees its smallest stage, the Cottesloe, transformed and renamed after Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman; the creation of a new riverside bar and gardens; and a new education centre. Work is due to be completed in 2014. Hytner's closest colleague, the theatre's executive director, Nick Starr, has also announced his departure in 2014.

The pair will continue to work together, Starr said, and are likely to found a new company in London. "We have a wonderful working relationship, and we don't want it to end yet," he said.

Hytner added: "It is early days; but what we won't do is run something that already exists. We would like to create something, and it will probably be in London. There are no jobs currently in existence that we covet."

In an interview with the Guardian in November, Hytner signalled his desire not to become a freelance director, but to continue producing.

"I'd want to continue to do something that wasn't just about me. I'm a director and always will be, but I love the relationship I have with directors, with writers I have never worked with directly and actors I have never worked with."

The search is now on for Hytner's successor – which will be one of the most hotly fought recruitment processes in the arts. Potential contenders may include Sam Mendes, a former director of Sheffield's Crucible and the Donmar Warehouse; and Stephen Daldry, executive producer of the opening ceremonies at the London 2012 Olympics. The National's associate director, Marianne Elliott, whom many observers had hoped to see in the race, has ruled herself out of contention.

The job will be advertised next week and a new artistic director announced, it is hoped, by the autumn. It is anticipated that Hytner's successor will be in post in early 2014 as director designate with a period of overlap until Hytner's last programmed works play in March 2015.

John Makinson, the National's chair, will be joined on the search committee for Hytner's successor by: the writer and former executive director of Chichester Festival theatre, Kate Mosse; the British Museum's director, Neil MacGregor; the Film4 chief Tessa Ross; and the producer and agent Peter Bennett-Jones.