Newspaper sales auditor the Audit Bureau of Circulation has announced the appointment of a new interim chief executive.

Simon Redlich, pictured left, ABC’s current Executive Director of Audit, Finance & ICT, will take up the role on New Year’s Day.

He takes over from Jerry Wright, who announced in June he would be stepping down at the end of this year.

During Jerry’s seven-year tenure, ABC transformed from a predominantly print based circulation auditor to develop multi-platform industry standards for brand measurement and verification of digital ad trading best practice.

Simon was part of the senior director team implementing these changes and has been at ABC for 10 years, leading a 60 strong team of auditors.

ABC says he will build on the work done to date, delivering both multi-platform ‘publisher brand’ measurement and pioneering work on brand safety and viewability in digital ad trading.

Said Simon: “I’m excited to be taking on this role and look forward to working with the ABC team to further develop the services we offer the industry.

“We’ll continue to work closely with the ABC Board and committees to meet industry needs and ensure ABC is the media industry’s stamp of trust’.”