The Independent has appointed Cathy Adams as Travel Editor. Cathy joined after working as a Freelance Travel Journalist and Editor, most recently based in Hong Kong. She also previously worked as Deputy Editor of Discovery, Cathay Pacific’s inflight magazine. Cathy can be found tweeting @Cathman.

Christopher Hooton has stepped back from his Culture Editor role at The Independent to focus on writing. He is now Film & Television Critic-at-Large and he can be found tweeting @ChristophHooton.

This change of role also sees the appointment of a new Head of Culture, Patrick Smith, who joins after 10 years as a Commissioning Editor and Arts Writer at The Telegraph, with his most recent role being Music Editor. He can be found tweeting at @PatrickHJSmith.

Will Kirby and Zak Thomas have both joined The Independent news desk as Assistant News Editors. Will was previously at Daily Express Online, while Zak was previously a Sub-Editor on The Independent’s Daily Edition.