Jeremy Spooner, managing director of Baylis and Co., which publishes the Maidenhead Advertiser, has been elected as the new chairman of the Independent Publishers' Forum.

He takes over from Newbury Weekly News chairman John Robertson.

He was the first chairman of the Forum which was formed in May 1997 to represent the interests of independent publishers in the Newspaper Society.

Jeremy, (35), joined the Maidenhead Advertiser when he was 16, and was appointed managing director in 1995.

He is the fourth generation of his family to run the paper and is a direct descendent of its founder, Frederick Baylis, who set up the Advertiser in 1869.

He said: "I am delighted to be elected as the new Forum chairman.

"Independent newspapers tend to be very successful family businesses that are the market leaders in the towns and villages they serve.

"Although they may be small on a national scale, their importance to their communities and local marketplaces is enormous.

"Collectively, under the umbrella of the Forum we have a vital role to play in the development of the regional press."