Adrian Jeakings, the chief executive of the regional newspaper publisher, Archant, has resigned.
In what many of the company's journalistic staff view as an unexpected turn of events, he is to depart at the end of the month. He is also to step down from the board.
Jeakings took over as CEO of the Norwich-based publisher in 2008, six years after joining the group as its finance director. He was confronted by the problems that struck the whole industry - a severe recession, a technological revolution and falling newsprint sales.
He then set about trying to transform the company from a traditional print business into a digital one while instituting cost-savings and the centralisation of production facilities.
The result has been an improvement to the balance sheet and, according to a press release issued today by Archant, "the company expects to be debt free by the end of the year."
Jeakings is to remain as Archant's representative on the regional trade body, the Newspaper Society, of which he is president. He is also to remain as a non-executive director of the Press Association.
Jeakings explained in his leaving statement that he had been considering "for some time whether or not it is time for me to move on."
He decided that with Archant's new chairman, Simon Bax, having "his feet under the table... now is the right time for me to step down."
He added: "I am honoured to have led this great company and I will miss working with Archant people. I wish Simon and Archant all the best for the future."
Bax spoke of Jeakings's "major contribution to the group" and his "careful stewardship of the business over an extremely difficult period for the industry."
I understand that moves are "under way" to appoint a replacement for Jeakings and an announcement about that will be made "in due course."
Archant's main title is the Eastern Daily Press. It publishes three other dailies plus a string of weeklies in Norfolk, Suffolk, Devon and London.
