The recent series of departures of Northcliffe editors has continued with news that Nottingham Post editor Malcolm Pheby is standing down after six years in the role.
Pheby will leave the company at the end of June but will play an ‘active role in appointing his successor”, according to Northcliffe.
The news comes after the departures of the Lincolnshire Echo’s Jon Grubb, Leicester Mercury’s Keith Perch, John Meehan from the Hull Daily Mail and Mark Astley from the Exeter Express & Echo over the last year.
Pheby’s career has included spells as editor of the Evening Star and East Anglian Daily Times in Ipswich, editorial director of Eastern Counties Newspapers, assistant editor of the Daily Express and managing director of Lincolnshire Echo Group Newspapers.
As well as being editor of the Nottingham Post, Pheby was also regional editorial director for Northcliffe Midlands.
In a statement released this afternoon he said: ‘I’ve spent six happy and eventful years editing the Nottingham Post. There have been challenging times, but good times too – not least raising £640,000 to build the Maggie’s cancer care centre in Nottingham.
“I feel it’s now time for a change, both for me and the newspaper. A new face will bring a different dimension to the superb team he or she will inherit. It has been a privilege to work with all my colleagues.”
Nottingham Post publisher Steve Hollingsworth said: ‘It’s a sad day for the Post and Nottinghamshire as a whole. Malcolm is not only a first-class journalist and communicator, but also plays a major role in the life of the city and county.
‘I am glad that he is staying on to bed in the redesign, which has been very well received, as well as helping to establish our new content platforms.”
Group managing director Steve Auckland added: ‘Malcolm has made a significant impact on every job he’s undertaken.
‘His career spanning national and local newspapers has witnessed many achievements and he can retire with the knowledge that he couldn’t have done any better.
According to the most recent ABC figures circulation of the Nottingham Post was down 16.9 per cent to 35,361.
Northcliffe has switched four of its titles form dailies to weeklies over the past year including the Torquay Herald Express and the Lincolnshire Echo.
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