News Corp Australia has signalled 'all change' at the top of its production, logistics and circulation groups with the departure of operations managing director Geoff Booth and three other team leaders.

Booth's 37-year career with News includes time at the New York Post, and as national director of production and logistics and general manager Nationwide News, and with Victorian subsidiary the Herald and The Weekly Times.

Also leaving are national director of premedia Bruce Harvey (20 years), national logistics specialist Mark Whitby (13 years) and general manager of logistics and support Marc Bouza, but News says the moves "in no way reflect a change of direction in the company's print business".

National production director Marcus Hooke takes over Geoff Booth's responsibilities as executive general manager, production and logistics, while Scott Rawlings becomes general manager of logistics and Rebecca English becomes general manager, pre-media.

Harvey, Whitby and Bouza leave the company at the end of June, but Geoff Booth will continue as a consultant.

News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller told staff the changes heralded "a changing of the guard" within production, logistics and circulation leadership teams with a new structure and associated new responsibilities.

"My sincere thanks to Geoff, Bruce, Mark and Marc for their leadership, professionalism and commitment."

Geoff Booth's appointment had itself signalled a change at News as the company moved from a building phase under Barry Johnson to a focus on continuous improvement. His most recent projects have included the replacement and upgrading of controls on the manroland presses at major print sites, and the replacement of worn-out Ferag mailroom systems in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

One remaining hot spot on Booth and Hooke's "to do" list is replacement of the manroland Newsman presses at Westgate Park in Melbourne, installed as part of a 1987 order. News has also contemplated installing inkjet digital presses for short-run production, naming Kodak and manroland as "preferred suppliers".

It will be a test of News' ongoing commitment to print whether either of these projects ever go ahead.

Peter Coleman

Pictured: Booth (right) and Hooke view the Brisbane upgrades in 2014