He succeeds John Fry, who will stand down as Chief Executive and a Director of Johnston Press on 31 October 2011.
Ashley Highfield is a Vice President of Microsoft, responsible for the UK Consumer and Online business, including the UK's largest content portal MSN. Prior to joining Microsoft, Ashley was Director of New Media and Technology at the BBC, where he was responsible for the launch of the BBC's iPlayer and Editor in Chief of BBC Online, following which he was CEO of Project Kangaroo, the video-on-demand BBC/ITV/C4 joint venture. He started his career with Coopers and Lybrand Management Consultancy from where he became Managing Director of Flextech (now Virgin Media) Interactive. Ashley is a graduate of the City University Business School, a Chartered Information Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Ian Russell, Chairman of Johnston Press said: "I am delighted to announce Ashley's appointment. His combined online and media sector pedigree will be a major strength in enabling us to grow our business again. On behalf of the board I would also like to thank John for his major contribution to the Company and wish him well for the future".
Mr Highfield will be awarded £500,000 of shares under the Company's PSP (LTIP) scheme on his commencement of the Chief Executive role on 1 November 2011.
