MEDIA group Archant, whose titles include the EADT, has appointed Sonita Alleyne OBE to its main board as a non-executive director.

Ms Alleyne founded the UK’s largest independent radio company, Somethin’ Else, in 1991 and has served on the boards of many public and private sector organisations, including non-executive roles at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the National Employment Panel and the London Skills and Employment Board.

Ms Alleyne, a graduate of Cambridge University and previously a reporter and presenter on BBC and local radio, is currently a non-executive director of the British Board of Film Classification, a member of the Court of Governors at the University of the Arts and chair of the Radio Sector Skills Council and the Islington Arts and Media School.

She was awarded an OBE for services to the media in 2004.

Ms Alleyne said: “I am delighted to be joining Archant at this time of great change, and I look forward to building further on my more than 20 years in the media industry. I believe I can bring a different perspective to the boardroom table and I am looking forward to working with the great management team as it moves forward.”

Archant chairman Richard Jewson, said: “It is rare to find such a uniquely qualified media specialist as Sonita; she will strengthen our board, add new perspective and will, I am sure, benefit our business in many different ways. I am delighted she is joining us.”