Express & Star publisher Midlands News Association has poached Northcliffe Digital publisher Abigail Edge as its new head of online content.
Edge, who was digital publisher for Northcliffe's thisisbristol.co.uk, will take charge of developing content across all of MNA's online platforms, reporting to head of digital William Beavis.
She said: "I'm delighted to be joining such a strong team which is keen to embrace the potential of digital media. With new technologies and social media platforms emerging all the time there's never been a more exciting time for online news.
'My key areas of expertise are in social media, search engine optimisation and building online communities. These are skills I look forward to bringing to my new role to build on the successes already achieved by the team here so far."
MNA managing director Phil Inman said: "We are all excited that Abigail is joining the digital team. Looking forward, we believe she will make a major contribution in developing our online editorial strategy for the group."
Abigail takes over from Chris Leggett, who took over the role of MNA brand and communications manager in March.
The Express & Star removed the paywall from its website in January after nine months, and instead opted to roll out new paid-for digital newspaper apps for iPad and iPhone.
The company said its latest ABC figures for July to December show it had the UK's fastest growing regional website network, with a 29.1 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of average daily unique users to 59,640.
It also said that expressandstar.com saw the biggest increase in average monthly traffic, up 35.6 per cent to 788,444 unique, while shropshirestar.com was up 26.5 per cent to 359,989.
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