Editor at the Johnston Press-owned Grantham Journal Nick Woodhead has been promoted to the position of group editor of the weekly and biweekly titles at East Midlands Newspapers.
Based in Spalding, Woodhead will now edit the paid-for Lincolnshire Free Press and Spalding Guardian while also taking responsibility for the strategic editorial developments of newspapers and websites in Rutland, Stamford, Bourne and Wisbech.
He said: "It's a big job and a big challenge, but it needed to be to wrest the Grantham Journal from my clutches!
"The Journal is such a brilliant newspaper to work on and the people of Grantham respond so positively towards the publication that leaving it behind is extremely difficult.
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"It has been a privilege to be the editor, to work with such a fine bunch of people and to enjoy the benefits of such a loyal and dedicated readership."
While Woodhead edited the Journal, the paper was marked out for its groundbreaking work on the Beverly Allitt murder trial and for the titles it produced to mark its 150th anniversary in 2004.
The Journal won a number of awards at a company and national level under his editorship, and the paper has also achieved 21 consecutive circulation increases despite widespread declines across the industry.
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Woodhead added: "It's hard to imagine another established newspaper matching that achievement. We have tried to be campaigning, but not strident — and at all times to be accessible.
"It's all down to the hard work of talented staff and the support of the Grantham public." Woodhead's successor will be announced shortly.
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