John Fry has been appointed as chief executive of media business Archant, formerly Eastern Counties Newspapers Group.

He joins in June and takes over from Peter Strong who is retiring after five years in charge.

New recruit John

John, (45), is currently chief executive of Misys International Banking Systems, an international computer software provider to the banking industry. He is the former president of Dun and Bradstreet Europe and also served as a non-executive director of Portsmouth and Sunderland newspaper group.

He said: "I am delighted to be joining a great business as it enters a new era under the Archant name. I look forward to being part of a highly talented team and further developing the business."

Archant chairman Richard Jewson said: "In recent years we have grown our newspaper business and entered the world of magazine and digital publishing. This growth has resulted in the recent rebranding of the company from Eastern Counties Newspapers Group to Archant."

Peter Strong, who joined the company from Emap in 1996, will be leaving the Board but will remain with the business as non-executive chairman of the Archant Lifestyle Board, the management body for the Group's magazine businesses.

Archant's headquarters are in Norwich and the group publishes four daily newspapers, 58 weekly papers, 45 monthly magazines and around 40 websites from offices all over the UK.

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