News International rebrands at start of ‘bright new chapter’ for Murdoch’s UK papers

News International has rebranded itself as News UK ahead of this week’s impending split of Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire.

The change of name will be seen as a sign that the group, which owns The Sun and The Times, wants to draw a line under the phone-hacking scandal that has dominated the agenda for the past two years.

Chief executive Mike Darcey said the move represented the start of “a bright new chapter”.

Darcey added: “With new people and a new strategy, we will take our place within a new company determined to secure a sustainable future for professional journalism around the globe. In the UK that means building on The Sun's success as the most popular paper and maintaining The Times and The Sunday Times as two of the most trusted news brands in the world.

“This is the platform from which we will continue to entertain and inform our readers, but also challenge the world around us, using our voice to bring about positive change and hold powerful and vested interests to account.”

On Friday, Murdoch’s publishing arm, News Corporation, will formally split off from his 21st Century Fox entertainment division.

The company said the rebrand has been “designed to convey a more coherent and logical identity for the new parent company across the globe.” The Australian newspaper arm of the company will now be known as News Corp Australia.

The two subsidiaries will be known by their new names from today, with both unveiling new logos.

News UK said the change of name followed “the fundamental changes of governance and personnel that have taken place to address the problems of the recent past”.

In a statement, it emphasised that it has taken a number of steps in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that has rumbled on since 2011, including apologising to victims, setting up a compensation fund and closing the News of the World.