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New publisher named to lead Kent titles

Regional publisher Archant has appointed Simon Irwin as publisher of its stable of titles in Kent.

The move marks a return to newspapers for Simon, left, who was editorial director of the KM Group before leaving in 2009.

He later joined Archant as group editor of its Archant Life magazine titles in the South East.

His new responsibilities will include leading the Archant KoS Media team in Kent, including the weekly Kent on Sunday newspaper and the monthly Kent Life magazine.

Said Simon:  “This is a challenging and exciting time for all media businesses. I am really looking forward to meeting our readers and customers.

“I have an excellent team here and I feel that we are ideally placed to offer the most compelling and useful all-Kent content to our readers and the best and most cost effective service to our advertisers.”

Archant Lifestyle Regional managing director, Tim Thurston, added:  “Simon’s brief is to grow both Kent on Sunday and Kent Life to even greater heights.

“We feel that the combination of the county’s two premier brands will be a powerful tool for our existing and new customers,” said Simon.

Simon began his career on the Mansfield Chad in the mid-1980s and was editorial director at KM Group for six years after joining the company as editor of the Kent Messenger in 2003.

He has also worked for the Western Mail, Derby Telegraph, The Star, Sheffield, and the Coventry Evening Telegraph.

In addition to its main titles, Archant KOS Media produces free weekly printed newspapers Kent on Saturday, Your Tunbridge Wells, Your Medway and Your Swale.

It also publishes a series of digital only newspapers Your Ashford, Your Canterbury, Your Deal, Your Dover, Your Maidstone, Your Sandwich, Your Shepway and Your Thanet.

Until earlier this year Archant KoS Media was managed by Paul Stannard, who founded Kent on Sunday in 2002 before selling it to Archant in 2010.

Paul then moved to the role of business operations director with Archant Lifestyle while Mike Deedigan took over as publisher of KoS Media.  Mike has now left the business.