Archant senior executives depart in significant restructure

Newspaper and magazine publisher Archant is undergoing a major restructure in which two senior executives have left the company.

Three of Archant's divisions, Archant Norfolk, Archant Suffolk and Archant Herts and Cambs are being merged into a single entity, Archant Anglia, which will be responsible for several dailies, including the Norwich Evening News, East Anglia Daily Times, and Eastern Daily Press, and around 35 weekly titles.

Managing directors Stephan Phillips, who is also a director of Norwich City Football Club, and Stuart McCreery, who has been in his current role at Archant since 2004, left the company on Friday.

"Stephan Phillips, managing director of Archant Norfolk has decided to take early retirement and Stuart McCreery, managing director of Archant Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire has decided to leave Archant to pursue other business interests," the publisher announced in a statement this afternoon.

Archant Anglia will be led by Johnny Hustler, currently managing director of Archant Lifestyle, which includes Archant Life, Archant Specialist and Archant Dialogue, and now Archant South West and Archant KOS Media.

Miller Hogg, who is currently managing director of Archant Specialist, will take over from Hustler at Archant Lifestyle.

The group's London newspaper and magazine businesses will be combined into a single Archant London entity headed by Enzo Testa, currently leader of the London newspaper business.

"We are living through a time of unprecedented change and increasing competition in the media industry. Our future growth depends on our ability to respond rapidly and cost-effectively to our customers' evolving needs. These structural changes will help us do this better and faster," Adrian Jeakings, chief executive of Archant said today.

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