GUERNSEY PRESS managing director Paul Carter is leaving the post in April to become a director at the Wolverhampton Express & Star. Owned by the same parent company, the Claverley Group, it is the largest-selling regional daily paper in the British Isles with an average sale of 150,000 copies per day.

Mr Carter has been appointed as commercial director and deputy managing director.

He said he would be very sad to leave the island, but was looking forward to the challenge.

‘It will be a significant change of scenery and pace but one that I will relish. The thing about newspapers is, regardless of their size, it is usually a similar job that needs doing.’

He moved to the island in 2000 to take up the post of deputy managing director of the Guernsey Press and advertisement director of the Jersey Evening Post. He had previously had a successful career in the UK regional newspaper industry.

In January 2005, he was appointed managing director of the Guernsey Press.

The most significant development for the company during his time was the construction of the new premises at Braye Road.

For the most part he oversaw the multi-million-pound project, which was completed in October 2005 on time and on budget.

Guiton Publishing managing director Jerry Ramsden said his new appointment was a great compliment.

‘Paul has contributed greatly to the commercial success of both the GP and the JEP and the skills of the staff we have in advertising in both islands are a credit to him,’ he said.

‘As managing director in Guernsey, he will also be long remembered for his leadership during the construction of the very successful new building.’

Mr Carter said it had been great to work alongside a number of people at the Guernsey Press who had spent most of their adult lives working for the paper.

‘So many of the staff know the product inside out.’

He also said he had loved being part of such a welcoming community which he would sorely miss.

Mr Carter was brought up in north-west Lancashire and got interested in sea fishing from a young age. Coming to Guernsey, with all the boating opportunities, was a dream come true. But now it is time to move on.’

Unfortunately the news of his move came after he had set his heart on buying his first vessel.

‘I was all set to buy a Quicksilver 640 pilothouse fishing boat. I had even got as far as choosing all the specifications. But now obviously my circumstances have changed and it might look out of place on the canals of the West Midlands,’ he said.

‘I am sure I will come back to Guernsey regularly to catch up with friends and fish and will just have to rely on being invited out on other people’s boats.’

Mr Carter is currently house-hunting and is looking to buy in the Shropshire countryside just outside the city.

‘Wolverhampton might sound a bit grim in comparison to Guernsey but it is a really thriving city and the beauty is that within a few miles you are in the best countryside in Britain,’ he said. ‘I may have to take up freshwater fishing and I will still be able to do some nice walking, albeit not on the cliffs any more.’

Mr Carter said he was glad to be staying within the Claverley Group.

‘I will always keep an eye on the Channel Islands and who knows what might happen in the future.’