Johnston Press is poised to appoint John Fry, the chief executive of rival but smaller newspaper group Archant, to lead its fight against an increasingly tough trading challenge.

The Glasgow-based company, which publishes The Scotsman, the Yorkshire Post and more than 300 other titles, has been searching for a new leader since Tim Bowdler, the 61-year-old incumbent, decided earlier this year that the time was right for him to step down.

Johnston has been among the most hard-pressed of publicly listed newspaper groups, facing the twin pressures of a strong downturn in advertising revenue, particularly in classified property and motoring traffic that is the staple of local papers, and the increasing rivalry of the internet.

Although it is relatively secure financially, having successfully launched a rights issue in May and enrolled Ananda Krishnan, a Malaysian billionaire, as a 20 per cent shareholder, analysts have identified Johnston as one of the more vulnerable groups.

This is partly because the group has been less fleet-footed than some others, notably Archant, in linking its online and print offering.

Mr Fry, 51, who the Financial Times identified four months ago as a leading candidate to succeed Mr Bowdler, has led a company that is privately held but regarded as relatively resilient to the advertising downturn. Centred on East Anglian papers and based in Norwich, Archant also publishes a series of freedistribution magazines in various English counties.

Its combination of websites and very tightly focused weekly papers has prompted some analysts to identify Archant as a model for the industry.

Mr Fry has been chief executive of Archant since 2002 and was previously chief executive of Misys, a supplier of software systems to the banking industry.

A person familiar with Johnston's recruitment process said that no final contract had been signed with any individual, and that therefore the board had made no final decision.

However, the Financial Times has been told that Mr Fry is the candidate with whom Johnston is finalising contractual arrangements.

The group had shortlisted five candidates from an initial list of 44 potential chief executives.