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Auckland bounces back as he reprises Metro role

Steve Auckland has made a swift return to newspapers after being announced as the new boss of Metro – weeks after leaving regional publisher Local World.

Just 24 hours after announcing that Metro managing director Linda Grant was leaving the title, parent company dmg media has installed Steve in her place.

It means a return to the role Steve held for nearly a decade before he took on the role of chief executive of Northcliffe Media in March 2011.

He went on to hold the same role at Northcliffe’s successor company Local World until leaving in October.

Today’s announcement said:  “Steve Auckland has been appointed managing director of Metro and will join the business on 10 December.

“Steve has been part of dmg media for many years and led Metro as managing director from February 2002 to March 2011 before being appointed managing director of Northcliffe Media and, latterly, CEO of Local World.”

Kevin Beatty, CEO of dmg media, said: “Steve is well placed to build on the excellent progress made by Metro over the past few years, and I very much welcome him back to our team.”

Steve added: “I am delighted to be back with Metro. I know the strengths of the team and I am looking forward to developing the print product further as well as continuing to build on the brand’s excellent digital platforms, especially Metro’s popular mobile app.”

Linda Grant, who held the position of commercial director under Steve before succeeding him as MD in 2011, leaves the business today.

Her departure was announced in a statement issued by dmg yesterday evening.

She said: “I am immensely proud of all that we have achieved over the past three years growing digital strength and evolving further our terrific newspaper.

“I want to build on that and move on to do something different. I wish the team all the very best for the future.”

Launched in 1999, Metro now distributes 1.4m copies across 50 UK cites and has a readership of 3.4m.

4 comments

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  • November 29, 2013 at 8:07 pm
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    Good luck Steve in your new position.

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  • December 2, 2013 at 10:38 am
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    Can’t say I knew Steve personally, but he seemed to be the one voice of sanity at Local World presentations I attended prior to my own exit. I wish him well in his new position.

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  • December 2, 2013 at 2:29 pm
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    Here’s an interesting dynamic for Monty – a good chunk of his profit will be coming from the Local World franchises of Metro.

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