Two former regional media leaders who set up their own businesses after leaving the industry are to join forces in order to expand the range of training services they offer.

Former JPIMedia and Archant editorial director Jeremy Clifford is to team up with Ed Walker, who was audience and content director at Reach plc until last year.

Jeremy has since set up leadership development training and digital transformation consultancy Chrysalsis Transformations, working with the FT Strategies team, Reuters Institute for Journalism and Ipso, as well as regional and local publishers.

Meanwhile Ed co-founded Alma, which focuses on delivering audience engagement projects for media companies including The Lead, 89Up, GoFundMe and Local Media for Democracy among others.

Jeremy Clifford, left, and Ed Walker

Said Ed: “Our paths intersected for a few years while we were working within the regional media industry and through our work together within the University of Central Lancashire’s journalism leadership and innovation course we’ve found a shared understanding about how the future of media and journalism may evolve.

“Bringing together the wide range and depth of skills and experiences we can offer means as Alma and Chrysalis we’re able to provide a broader range of options for clients of all sizes in their projects or initiatives we’re working with them on.”

Added Jeremy: “What Chrysalis does is build a network of like-minded consultants and media advisers, all with different skills and experiences to offer a wide portfolio of skills and expertise. Ed and I have already combined those skills in a number of small projects.

“Working with Ed and the Alma team has underlined how their skills are a neat fit with what the digital transformation work Chrysalis is involved with. They are flexible and their expertise reflects the years of experience they have under their belts.”