Paul Coates is appointed head of print for the North West, taking responsibility for the regional production team publishing the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News and Huddersfield Examiner, as well as weekly titles including the Chester Chronicle. Macclesfield Express, Rochdale Observer and Rossendale Free Press.
Paul has more than 30 years of print production experience and has held senior editorial roles at the Manchester Evening News for many years, including managing editor and print editor. In his new role, he will continue to report to the region's marketplace publisher, Darren Thwaites.
Darren said: "Paul is one of the most experienced journalists in the industry and I know he will relish the opportunity to get involved with another stellar regional title in the Liverpool Echo. He leads by example and fully understands the vital role he has in building great newspapers from the rich feed of content driven by our digital journalists."
Paul said: "I'm delighted and honoured to be leading the team producing such iconic titles as the MEN and the Echo, along with their well-respected sister weekly titles across Greater Manchester. Merseyside and Cheshire. The North West print production team have all the strengths and talents to make sure all the papers can meet the challenges ahead and keep our well-loved titles up where they belong."
Dion will take charge of North Wales Live and the Daily Post. He was born and raised in Caernarfon where he still lives. Dion is a Welsh speaker and studied History and Journalism at Bangor University before landing his first job in journalism at the Cambrian News in Porthmadog in 2008.
He joined the Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald in 2009 and has worked at Reach ever since in a variety of different roles across the business, including chief reporter at the Herald, story editor for the North Wales weekly titles, content editor at the Daily Post, head of social media and executive editor for North Wales Live.
He has also worked on a number of key projects for Reach Plc's portfolio of brands including on the roll-out for a new the Escenic CMS platform to the former Local World centres. Dion was also part of the Leeds Live launch team.
More recently he has been working on the content desk of a project team spearheading the launch of six new news brands across England.
Speaking about his appointment, Dion said: "I feel extremely honoured and privileged. I am proud to call North Wales my home and know how important our brands are to the people, culture and identity of the region. I look forward to leading North Wales Live and North Wales Daily Post into the next stage and tackling the issues that are most important to the people of the area. Being from the heart of this community I aim to ensure North Wales and the North Wales Daily Post remains there."
Dion will report into Alison Gow, audience and content director for North West and North Wales and former editor of the Daily Post.
Alison said: "I'm delighted Dion will be leading the North Wales newsroom. He is a fantastic journalist, and someone who is utterly committed to North Wales Live and has worked on both the North Wales Weeklies and the Daily Post, as well as helping lead many group-wide editorial projects. He is passionate about Wales and I know he will be a real champion for the people of North Wales. Llongyfarchiadau, Dion!"
