A newspaper executive who left Trinity Mirror in a management shake-up last year has bounced back in a similar role with Johnston Press.

Warren Butcher was divisional managing director of Trinity’s North West and North Wales titles until March 2012 when his post was axed along with that of his North-East counterpart Bob Cuffe.

Now he has taken over as MD of Johnston’s North West publishing unit, which includes the Lancashire Evening Post, Wigan Evening Post and The Gazette, Blackpool.

Warren joined JP on 8 April, having previously worked as MD of SAS Media Solutions since leaving Trinity.

Group commercial & marketing director Neil Jones said: “Warren brings with him a wealth of local press knowledge and experience.

“He really impressed us with his passion and commitment to the business and his ideas for how he can grow advertising revenue in a tough economic environment.”

The vacancy was created when the previous divisional MD Gary Fearon was put in charge of JP’s new contact centres in Sheffield and Edinburgh.

The centres were created last year as a result of a plan to centralise advertising functions across the company.