Joe Slavin, former managing director of Monster in the UK, has switched allegiances to become senior chief executive of rival Fish4.

Monster has cut the number of managers in Europe from 14 to four, and Slavin decided not to re-apply for a post in the new regime.

Fish4 is owned by four of the UK’s largest newspaper groups, Trinity Mirror, Newsquest, Northcliffe and Guardian Media Group.

Fish4jobs, its recruitment site, claims to be one of the largest in the UK, with 1.3 million unique users according to figures collected in a Noras survey in 2004.

“It’s all about growth now. Online is a really exciting place to be,” said Slavin.