A senior director at a regional publisher is set to leave his role after almost four years.

Reach plc has announced that group chief financial officer Simon Fuller will step down from his post at the end of this year.

Simon, pictured, who joined Reach in February 2019, will stay on actively in his role until the end of this year and will then complete a period of garden leave before his departure.

He will be replaced by Darren Fisher, who is currently group director of finance at ITV plc.

In a statement, Reach said: “Reach plc, the owner of over 130 trusted national and local media brands, reaching 80pc of the UK online population, today announces that the company and Simon Fuller, group chief financial officer, have mutually agreed that it is an appropriate time for Simon to step down and move on to new challenges.

“Simon has contributed significantly to Reach’s strategy and helped guide the business through a period of significant change and will step down from his role of group chief financial officer on 31 December 2022 and will leave the group following a period of garden leave.

“Simon will remain in his existing role until the end of this year to support the Company and ensure an orderly transition.”

Darren, who has been in his current role since 2020, is also divisional CFO for ITV’s media and entertainment division, which contains the UK broadcast business as well as ITV’s digital offerings such as ITV Hub and ITVX. He previously served as director of finance for Micro Focus plc and Sage plc.

Reach chief executive Jim Mullen said: “Simon has played an important role for Reach, helping to steer the business through the pandemic.

“On behalf of all the Board I would like to thank Simon for his valuable contribution, hard work and commitment.

“I am delighted to welcome Darren to Reach. He brings a strong set of financial, operational and strategic skills to the Board. I am confident that he will make a strong contribution to our leadership team and the Group.

“Darren is joining Reach at an important time, and I very much look forward to working with him to continue to execute our Customer Value strategy.”