New Appointments And Restructure For Amra

Amra, the largest single buying unit for the regional press, has radically expanded its structure by appointing three new board directors and two new associate directors in a drive for new business for the medium.

With immediate effect Karen Atkinson, Lisa Bourne and Jeff Lawrenson will join the board of Amra, taking the total to seven. Atkinson and Bourne will share responsibility for the sales direction of Amra’s 200-plus titles, including developing new business for the medium from southern-based advertising clients, while Jeff Lawrenson becomes general manager of Amra’s Manchester office with responsibility for a new business drive in the north.

Andrew Harding has been made associate director and will become group head of the Manchester Evening News team; Malcolm Sawyer also becomes an associate director and will head up the marketing department. Mike McCormack, chief executive, said: “We are competing in the same market as television and radio but with an antiquated structure. The regional press needs to rethink how it sells itself to demonstrate its immense value in the marketplace and it has a responsibility to target new business.”

Amra: 0171 820 10001