Herts & Essex Newspapers editor-in-chief Colin Grant has been appointed editor of the Hertfordshire Mercury Series, as part of a reorganisation of senior management at the group.

Colin will now be responsible for the four-edition Mercury in addition to his current role.

Paul Brackley has become news editor for the Hertfordshire Mercury Series.

He was previously news editor for the Hertfordshire and Buntingford editions of the series, and has now taken on the same role for the Hoddesdon and Cheshunt titles.

Ian Rogerson, who was editor of the Hoddesdon and Cheshunt titles, has been appointed production editor for the Hertfordshire Mercury Series, with responsibility for all four editions of the newspaper.

Paul Winspear, previously editor of the Hertfordshire and Buntingford editions of the Mercury, has been appointed editor of its sister paid-for title, the Herts & Essex Observer Series.

At the company's free titles, Ken Morley – editor of the Harlow Star – has, in addition, taken up the editorship of the Herts and Lea Valley Stars.

The new appointments follow a reorganisation of the group's editorial operation which had originally met opposition from National Union of Journalists members there.

An initial ballot for industrial action returned a vote in favour of strike action or industrial action short of a strike, but HEN management questioned the legality of the ballot and the NUJ decided to vote again.

The second ballot was then suspended after the union said that the chapel was to be involved in a "no-holds-barred" review of the restructure.