Journalism jobs and news from Holdthefrontpage.co.uk

Regional press news - this story published 21 September 2006

Echo's Ron Wain joins Deep South Media

by holdthefrontpage staff

Ron Wain, business editor of the Southern Daily Echo, has joined Deep South Media as PR account director for Southampton.

In the new post he will run the PR operation in the city for the Bournemouth-based communications consultancy.

He is the second former Newsquest business editor to join the company in the past year, after Andrew Diprose, a former business editor of the Daily Echo in Bournemouth, set up its PR division in Dorset last year.

Before that Andrew had handled PR and staff communications for Newsquest and now handles PR and media for 17 organisations.

(L-R) Andrew, Gareth and Ron

Ron, (39), ran the business desk at Southampton for nearly four years, and before that was deputy news editor for six years.

He began his career at the Daily Echo in Bournemouth in 1989, before taking a career break for 18 months to cycle 9,000 miles from the southern tip of South America to Colombia.

In 1995 he joined the Nottingham Evening Post as a reporter.

He said: "Deep South's star is in the ascendancy. It has become a major player and has the potential to become the biggest business PR agency in the region.

"As hard-news journalists we provide a very different service to our rivals. We strip out the puff and fluff and provide copy that busy news editors want."

Deep South was founded in 1998 by ex-Bournemouth Daily Echo editor Gareth Weekes.

Gareth said: "Getting Ron is a coup for us.

"He is one of the best business journalists in the south of England and I know he will do a superb job for our clients.

"We are actively looking for more people like him to open up our operations in other centres."

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