The former top three executives of a regional daily have been re-united at a local magazine publishing group.
As reported by HTFP last month, former Shropshire Star editor Sarah-Jane Smith and her erstwhile deputy Jon Simcock have launched glossy magazine Shrewsbury Today.
Now they have been joined by Carl Jones, left, who was the paper’s assistant editor and number three to Sarah-Jane and Jon for nine years.
He will take over from Sarah-Jane as editor of Shropshire Business Today, another of the titles in the Blossom Media Communications stable.
Carl was business editor of the Shropshire Star for nine years until 2002 and assistant editor until last month, when he decided to leave.
Sarah-Jane left the paper in 2011 after ten years as editor while Jon left in 2013.
Said Sarah-Jane: “I am delighted that Carl has agreed to join Blossom Media Communications and take over as editor of SBT.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed launching and establishing SBT as the county’s only dedicated business-to-business magazine and it is a pleasure to be able hand it over to Carl whose great experience will mean it can be developed further.
“Between us, Jon, Carl and I have nearly 90 years experience in the media, much of which has been spent working together in the county.
“Carl’s decision will mean we can combine all of our skills to develop new projects we wish to pursue, whilst being able to continue to maintain the high quality editorial in our current two titles.”
Added Carl: “I’m looking forward to getting back on the county business networking circuit, renewing acquaintances with some familiar faces, and meeting plenty of new ones.
“In business terms, few counties in Britain can be as diverse as Shropshire, and that makes the task of editing the magazine an exciting prospect.”
Carl is a regular voice on BBC Radio Shropshire, through his weekly film reviews and guest presenting shifts, which will continue.
He is also a co-founder of the Shropshire Business Awards, where he continues to serve as a judge, and a former board member of The Prince’s Trust, and Young Enterprise.
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Best of luck to them. With morale on the floor at MNA and further cutbacks likely to lead to an inferior product, I’m sure this new venture has a good chance.
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Well done Sarah-Jane, I am sure your venture will be a success after the good work you did at the Shropshire Star. I worry if the MNA decide to print overnight. Look what happened to the Birmingham Mail, circulation down to under 40,000 from approaching 400,000 a night in the good days.
Not all readers want to log on to the website to see the day’s news.
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Great news! The “A” Team back together again! As a former employee of the group, for 15 years, l worked with all three of these great people – it is wonderful to say that there is life after the MNA!
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