Former regional press editor Neil Fowler has been appointed publisher and chief executive officer of The Toronto Sun.

He will relocate from South Wales at the end of next month after being headhunted before Christmas.

Neil, (47), is a former editor of the Western Mail, Newcastle Journal and Derby Evening Telegraph.

His first editorship was at the Lincolnshire Echo in 1984, when he became Northcliffe Newspapers’ youngest editor, aged 29.

He began his career at the Leicester Mercury aged 22.

He was also joint acting managing director of the Western Mail & Echo, which publishes the Western Mail, South Wales Echo and Wales on Sunday – business experience which will prove vital in the daily newspaper marketplace in Toronto, where there are three competitors to The Sun.

The Toronto Sun has a circulation of 200,000 on weekdays and 400,000 on Sundays.

Neil (pictured) said: “I’ve always wanted to have a crack at running my own newspaper company, having done a bit of that in 2001 at the Western Mail & Echo, and then last year with my own communications business.

“Canadian newspapers are very different to British ones – they are not as competitive, although there are four morning newspapers in Toronto, which makes it the most competitive marketplace in North America.

“We have to justify to our readers not just spending 50 cents, but 25 or 30 minutes of their day.

“There will be lots of challenges and it will be lots of fun.”

He is a past president of the Society of Editors and founded the Business Awards for Wales. He also helped build the Welsh Woman of the Year into the major event it is today.

He has lived in Canada before – as a student in 1976 – when he worked on a tobacco farm in Tillsonburg to make money to help him through his studies.

Sun Media Corps president and chief executive Pierre Francoeur – who appointed Neil – said: “What impressed me the most was his strong editorial background. Neil is used to a competitive environment. He’s a fighter and that’s exactly the kind of guy we want.

“Neil brings to The Toronto Sun a true understanding of the entire newspaper industry. He has been responsible for the successful positioning of a number of newspapers in what is probably the world’s most competitive morning market place as well as the redesign of those products.”

Neil officially begins work on June 30 but is already beginning the new job. His wife Carol and ten-year-old daughter Helen will follow to Canada shortly. His PR firm Neil Fowler Communications will close.