Johnston Press names new finance chief

NEWSPAPER and website publisher Johnston Press has appointed David King as its next chief financial officer.

King – who has been working as a consultant, including at Johnston Press, owner of The Scotsman, since leaving his post as chief executive of publishing group Time Out in July – will replace Grant Murray on 1 June.

For the nine years prior to Time Out, King was chief financial officer at BBC Worldwide, overseeing profits increasing to £100 million on turnover growing from £354m to more than £800m.

He joined the board of BBC Worldwide in 1999, having held a number of senior financial roles in the BBC.

Johnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield joined the publishing group in November 2011, having served as a vice-president at Microsoft and director of new media and technology at the BBC.