Newton was group classified ad controller at Associated and joins Express Newspapers with a brief to oversee classified sales across all titles, including its proposed London evening launch.
Newton is the second big advertising hiring to join Express. Last month. Richard Desmond's plans to launch a challenger to the London Evening Standard moved a step closer with the appointment of Mike Orlov, the former ad director of the Standard.
Orlov joined to build a classified and display sales force for the as-yet-unnamed title and is responsible for poaching Newton from his old bosses.
Orlov and Newton will work alongside Christian Toksvig, who joined Express Newspapers as development manager and was the first outside hiring for the proposed free London evening newspaper. Toksvig joined from Swedish newspaper group Metro International, which pioneered the launch of Metro free newspapers around the world.
There is still no confirmation what Desmond's new London paper might be called after he lost his legal battle earlier this month with Associated for the right to use the name Evening Mail or London Evening Mail.
There was a suggestion that the paper might be called London PM, but there has been no confirmation of this.
Despite the court setback, Desmond has received a boost from the Office of Fair Trading, which is investigating Associated's distribution deals over competition concerns.
The investigation follows a complaint from Desmond about the exclusive distribution deal that the Metro has with London Underground, which he has called anti-competitive.
The deal to distribute the Metro ensures the paper is in tube and rail stations throughout the capital and has been a crucial factor in the success of the title.
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