A new chief financial officer has been appointed by PA Group, which is the parent company of the Press Association.

New boy, Ed Ethleston, will join the PA Group in August, taking over from Steven Brown who has retired after 19 years with the company.

Ed started his career at Pricewaterhousecoopers before joining Bain and Company, and has spent the last 12 years at Red Bee Media, the media services specialist, most recently as its director of finance.

Leading the PA Group’s finance, HR, and property functions, and based at the company’s headquarters in London, Ed will be responsible for a broad range of finance and strategic matters, including managing a number of external relationships.

Ed joins PA Group as it continues to develop and launch a new range of services that will enable the business to fully capitalise on the demand for compelling, quality multimedia content.

Ed (pictured) said: “I’m very excited to be joining PA Group. The business operates in a rapidly changing market, and I’m looking forward to playing a key role in maximizing the opportunities that that will bring.”

Clive Marshall, Chief Executive of PA Group, said: “As a member of the company’s executive team Ed will play a major role in ensuring that we continue to diversify the market for our news and information services, while at the same time fully capitalizing on the enormous increase in demand for content, particularly from digital media.

In the interim period and with immediate effect, PA Group’s incumbent Financial Controller, Gareth Bramall, will become Acting Finance Director.