Lowe's big tease

As his one-time deputy Keith Perch recently noted, Mike Lowe was one of the great 'personality editors' of the 1990s, bringing his unique style of journalism to first the Gloucester Citizen, then the Derby Evening Telegraph, and finally the Bristol Evening Post.

After leaving Bristol following a management shake-up at the paper in 2005, Mike forged a new career as a lifestyle magazine editor, but the recent departures of Paul Horrocks from the Manchester Evening News and Marc Reeves and Steve Dyson from the Birmingham Post and Mail gave Jon Slattery the chance to dust off his contacts book and give him a call for a feature about what happens to ex-editors.

The interview, published in the current print edition of Press Gazette but not available online, is a great read, not least Mike's revelation that he once entertained "3am fantasies of assassinating the man (or woman)" who forced him out of his job.

But the really tantalising gem is the bit where Mike reveals he has recently been approached to return to editing on a major regional title.

He said: "I had a phone call from a headhunter only this week inviting me to apply for a significant regional editor's job. It took me about 20 minutes to realise that I wasn't remotely interested. Life moves on."

So which "significant regional title" was it? Well, the only one I can think of that is currently vacant is the MEN. If Mike, a lifelong United fan, was not tempted by that one, then it's clear that nothing is going to lure him back into regional journalism.

Horrocks departs without fanfare

The announcement last month that Paul Horrocks was leaving after 12 years as editor of the Manchester Evening News was predictably one of our biggest stories of recent months, although interestingly, it got fewer page views on HTFP than our tale about the departure the MEN's last staff photographer, Mark Waugh, and only a few more than the one about assistant editor Robert Ridley quitting to become a driving instructor.

At the time of the announcement, no date was given for Mr Horrocks' actual departure, with the MEN Media press office merely saying it would be "some time in October" and promising to let us know more nearer the time.

As it happened, that time came and went without any further word on the matter. After receiving an out-of-office message from Paul this morning, we checked back with the press office who confirmed that in fact he left on Friday.

Doesn't it all seem a tad low-key for someone who has been such a high-profile figure in the industry over the past decade?