Reach group editor-in-chief Lloyd Embley has stepped down with immediate effect after almost 30 years with the publisher.
Embley has been editor-in-chief since 2014 and his previous roles at Reach, and in its previous form as Trinity Mirror, include night editor and assistant editor of the Daily Mirror, editor of the Sunday People, and editor-in-chief of the Daily and Sunday Mirror.
Reach’s various editors will now report directly “on operational matters” to chief executive Jim Mullen “while continuing to lead their brands and teams with independence and authority”, Mullen explained in an email to editorial staff on Wednesday.
Those editors are: Mirror editor-in-chief Alison Phillips, Express editor-in-chief Gary Jones, Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday editor-in-chief Jon Clark, David Dick who is editor-in-chief of the publisher’s titles in Scotland, and Caroline Waterston, editor-in-chief of magazines including OK!.
Mullen said of Embley’s time at Reach: “Lloyd has played an important part in the leadership of our business and its fantastic titles in that time, including through the acquisition of Express, Star and OK!, the development of content-sharing strategies to leverage our portfolio and our recent expansion into the US.”
He added: “We’ll take this opportunity as our business evolves to continue to look at the best ways of working to serve our customers’ changing needs, drive commercial success and secure a sustainable future for our brilliant journalism.”
Embley said in a statement: “I am incredibly lucky to have worked for so long with some amazing colleagues in an industry I love. I joined the Mirror on a six-month contract so 30 years feels like a pretty decent innings.
“I leave behind a group of amazingly talented editors and journalists. They are the best in the business and I wish them and their titles every success. I will miss them all enormously but I am excited about the future.”
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