Exit for Harborough Mail editor in Johnston Press restructure

Harborough Mail’s Brian Dodds is leaving the Johnston Press title after 11 years as editor.

It comes after owners Johnston Press announced in August it was scrapping three editor jobs in the Midlands by merging editorial management across its three newspaper centres in Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire.

Editors at the Northants Telegraph, Daventry Express, Harborough Mail, Leamington Courier and Rugby Advertiser are all affected by the proposed changes.

“There are exciting changes ahead for The Mail, both in terms of improvements to the design of the paper and in its digital output, but the time has come for me to move on,” said Dodds in an article that appeared in the weekly paper.

“I am proud of the way my teams have served the community and I know I leave behind a group of dedicated and talented people who will continue to do so.”

Dodds joined the Mail as editor in October 2001 and leave on Friday 28 September.

Under the restructuring plans Johnston wants to make the group editor in Northampton take on responsibility for the Daventry Express, the editor at Kettering take on responsibility for the Harborough Mail and the role of editor of the Leamington Spa Courier take over responsibility for the newspapers in Rugby.

According to the most recent ABC figures, the Harborough Mail saw circulation drop 3 per cent in the first six months of the year to 9,785.