Stephen Grabiner, the former media chief of Apax Partners, is to join the board of directors of the Times Newspapers.

Mr Grabiner, who was head of media operations at the private equity investors for 11 years, is the first director to have been named since James Murdoch left the company last September.

His media experience also includes time as a board member of the Jewish Chronicle and as the chairman of On Digital. He had a three - year stint as a Daily Telegraph executive and time at Express Newspapers in the 1990s.

The father-of-three, who lives in north London, is also a board member of the alternative Israel advocacy organisation, Yachad.