Under the new structure, which is effective immediately, director of production, distribution and circulation Bob Steadman is promoted to director of newspaper operations.

In the newly created position, Steadman will oversee overall print product operations and focus on the development of new revenue streams as well as a long-term strategy for print, retail delivery and supply chain management.

The second appointment will see current general manager of newspaper operations Brett Lawrence promoted to director of production, newspapers.

Lawrence, who will report to Steadman, will manage GNM’s recently restructured print centres and oversee the company’s third-party print business, which delivers products such a Chinese language newspaper that was printed during London 2012 Olympics.

Steadman said he would focus on creating as efficient a print operation as possible and generating additional revenue streams from it.

He added: "We print products for other companies and will be looking at expanding that business but we also have the remit to explore new types of print product - for The Guardian and our partners - that may offer advertisers new ways to reach and interact with consumers.

"Our print sites are award winning businesses and we'll continue to innovate with both our own, and our print customers' products."

Steadman said that following the restructuring of its London and Manchester print facilities earlier this year, in which around 40 jobs were cut, he was confident that the business was now "in the right shape" to meet current challenges.

"I've seen all sorts of rumours about how we might share presses with another paper but there are no plans to do that. We have no plans to restructure again or close our sites," he added.

In June 2011 GNM announced a five-year transformation project that will see it become a ‘digital first’ operation, meaning it will invest in digital revenue streams ahead of print.

Print currently accounts for 75% of GNM’s revenue and Steadman said it would still be the biggest single source of revenue after the five-year transformation was complete in 2016.

"That means that print will remain our bedrock for many years to come and I do not expect to see The Guardian going purely digital anytime soon," he added.