Newquest has appointed a new digital platforms director “as it continues the rapid expansion of its digital operations”.
Simon Hill will be joining the regional publisher from Haymarket Media Group where he has been responsible for all digital product development for the last four years as UK digital technology director.
Last week, Newsquest’s parent company revealed that the regional publisher’s websites have seen their total traffic increase by more than 60 per cent year on year.
Announcing a second-quarter profits rise of 84 per cent and a 12 per cent increase in revenue year on year, Gannett also said Newsquest’s digital revenues are up 24.6 per cent.
In June, Newsquest announced the launch of a responsive mobile web platform across all of its 140 regional and local news titles in England and Wales.
On the appointment of Hill, Newsquest digital media managing director Mark Smith said: “When we first started looking for someone to take on the crucial product development role we saw a lot of high calibre candidates but as discussions went on it became clear that Simon was the one we wanted and we’re delighted he saw it the same way.
“He has a great deal of experience in leading digital media teams and that’s exactly what we need as we accelerate our programme of digital development to provide our users and advertisers with the right products on the right devices at the right times.”
Hill, who has been at Haymarket for 12 years, said he was pleased to be “joining Newsquest at a time of such opportunity”.
He added: “It’s a company that’s clearly got real digital ambition and has already grown a huge audience so I’m really looking forward to building on that success .”
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