Mullins steps into Hardy’s shoes at Evening Standard

Former Sunday Times marketing director Andrew Mullins has been made managing director of the Evening Standard, replacing newspaper legend Bert Hardy.

Hardy came out of retirement in September 2005 to take over as caretaker managing director of the Standard. The 77-year-old began his career at 14 as a copy boy on Picture Post. His jobs in newspapers have included advertisement director of the News of the World and then The Sun, chairman of the Evening Standard and chief executive of Press Holdings.

His replacement, Mullins, was closely involved in the launch of The Sunday Times's ill-fated CD-ROM experiment The Month in 2003. The monthly CD supplement was dropped after a year and an expenditure of around £10m. Mullins has been general manager of The Times and Sunday Times since 2005 and has been at News International for six years. According to the Evening Standard: "Previously he accumulated 13 years of brand marketing and management experience with leading blue-chip FMCG companies Unilever and Diageo." Mullins said: "I am immensely proud to have worked for News International over the past six years and have learned a great deal there. However, the opportunity to help play a role in securing and building an exciting and influential future for the Evening Standard is a challenge I did not feel I could turn down. "The Evening Standard is uniquely placed as the only quality daily news-paper focused solely on London. I am greatly looking forward to working with the editorial and commercial teams at the Standard. I am sure it will be immensely rewarding and great fun." A starting date for Mullins has yet to be announced.

He joins the Standard at a challenging time for it, following the launch of two free evening newspapers in London. In October, paid-for sales of the paper dropped 23.84 per cent year on year.

It is understood that Hardy will continue to be involved in the running of the Standard, providing advice at board level.