by Mark Chillingworth

News International poach Paul Cheesbrough, CIO, from Telegraph

News
Jun 07, 2010
CareersIT LeadershipIT Strategy

Paul Cheesbrough, CIO at The Telegraphis joining rivals News International as CIO.

Cheesbrough will move to News International, publishers of The Times, Sun and News of the World newspapers in the autumn. News International is part of the Rupert Murdoch media empire which includes Sky TV.

“He has exceptional experience in leading technology teams for content businesses and he joins us at a defining moment for our digital strategy,” said Rebekah Brooks, News International Chief Executive. Cheesbrough will report directly to Brooks, a former editor of the Sun tabloid newspaper.

At News International Cheesbrough will have a remit for the entire group’s IT platform and is charged with developing the digital infrastructure as the company increasingly becomes a multi-media operation and moves away from printed newspapers. The Times is putting a pay-wall in front of its content as part of its online strategy.

“His work with editorial and commercial groups will be enormously relevant to our plans to invest and to innovate for our customers,” Brooks added in a statement.

“Leaving [The Telegraph] was a difficult decision for me to make but News International is fantastically positioned to take advantage of the next stage of growth in the digital marketplace,” the CIO said in the same statement.

The Telegraph editor Will Lewisleft the company in early May, reportedly over differences on the internet strategy of the company.

Andrew Hicksey, current CIO of News International is leaving to become a consultant, the newspaper group said.

At The Telegraph Cheesbrough has spearheaded the adoption of Google Apps to reduce IT costs as well as cloud based accounting applications.