MEDIA group Archant, whose titles include the East Anglian Daily Times, is to restructure its divisional set-up in a move designed to focus on delivering growth.

Archant Regional, the group’s newspaper publishing arm, will see three of its businesses covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Hertfordshire & Cambridgeshire brought together under a single division, Archant Anglia, led by Johnny Hustler, currently managing director of Archant Lifestyle.

Johnny first joined Archant in 1987 and worked on the EADT and sister title the Evening Star for five years before moving into a broader role.

“I have very fond memories of my time in Suffolk and look forward to working once again with past colleagues and customers,” he said.

“The new Anglia structure allows us to orchestrate some of the strongest local media brands in the country and allows us to provide our customers with an array of flexible solutions, whether they are local or stretch across the whole of East Anglia.”

Under the restructuring, the group’s London newspaper and magazine businesses will be combined into a single Archant London entity headed by Enzo Testa, currently leader of the London newspaper business.

Miller Hogg, currently managing director of Archant Specialist, will take over from Johnny Hustler at the head of Archant Lifestyle which spans Archant Life, Archant Specialist and Archant Dialogue and now also includes Archant South West and Archant KOS Media.

Stephan Phillips, managing director of Archant Norfolk, has decided to take early retirement and Stuart McCreery, managing director of Archant Suffolk, Herts & Cambs has decided to leave Archant to pursue other business interests.

Adrian Jeakings, chief executive, Archant said: “We are living through a time of unprecedented change and increasing competition in the media industry.

“Our future growth depends on our ability to respond rapidly and cost-effectively to our customers’ evolving needs. These structural changes will help us do this better and faster.”