These appointments are part of a wider re-organisation of the editorial teams who are responsible for some of the best known news and media brands in the region including the Croydon Advertiser, Surrey Mirror, Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser, Crawley News and East Grinstead Courier.
Deanne Blaylock, editor of the Surrey Mirror and Dorking Advertiser, has been with the business for 10 years having previously edited the Brentwood Gazette – another Local World South East title.
She said: “I am delighted to be offered this new opportunity. It’s an exciting time in local newspapers as we evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of our readers.
“I look forward to taking our products forward in this era with our fantastic team.”
Andy Worden, currently editor of the Crawley News and East Grinstead Observer, previously edited the Croydon Advertiser and has also been with the business for 10 years. Under his stewardship crawleynews.co.uk has grown audience to become one of the most popular sites in our south east portfolio, says Local World.
He said: “We are very fortunate to have a talented, passionate and dedicated team who enable us to put together what I believe are some of the best local papers and websites in the country.
“Croydon is one of the best patches around and I am excited about the prospect of continuing the great work that Glenn and his team have been doing over the past few years.”
The changes were triggered by a decision by Glenn Ebrey, current senior editor of the division, to step down at the end of May after a very successful nine years with the business – initially as chief reporter at the Dorking Advertiser before moving up to news editor and then editor at the Crawley News. He has been editor of the Croydon Advertiser since October 2010, winning a series of awards and establishing the successful South edition of the paper.
Glenn said: “I have loved my time at the Advertiser and it has been a genuine honour and privilege to edit a title with such a prestigious history and place in its community.
“I am leaving with a heavy heart but with a young family to look after and my priorities changing, I feel this is the right time to move in a different direction with my career.”
Richard Karn, Managing Director of the South East division which includes East Surrey and Sussex News and Media said: “We are really sorry to lose Glenn who has led the editorial team through a period of substantial change and challenge with great skill and good humour. Both Andy and Dee fully deserve this chance of career development and it is always motivating to be able to reward capable colleagues with a new challenge. At the same time the moves will create opportunities throughout the department”.
The changes will create three vacancies for content editors which are also expected to be filled internally.
