Publishing Experience

Publishing has been an important part of my life. I have enjoyed my career in publishing greatly and hard work, coupled with vision and creativity, have brought me success. Although the traditional publishing method is being challenged and has undergone immense change, I am a firm believer that the various means of publishing delivery (new and old) can co-exist alongside each other for the foreseeable future. 

It all started when I moved from a successful career in FMCG sales into selling advertising space with B2B publisher Hamerville in 1980. I was soon promoted to Advertisement Manager at a young age, responsible for a small team selling on what was to become a trade publishing sensation - Professional Builder magazine. I went on to launch Professional Electrician before leaving to further my career. 

Moving to the award winning Running Magazine was an exciting opportunity. Responsible for key clients, I found myself negotiating large scale annual advertising contracts with the likes of Nike (Steve Cram and Brendan Foster), Reebok and Hi-Tec. This also gave me my first exposure to the newstrade and through newstrade distributor Comag, I learnt all about the publishing process from conception to on sale at the newsagents. 

I was head hunted and joined EMAP in Peterborough working as Head of Advertising. Responsible for a large team, my brief was to take Fleet News (the trade magazine for fleet managers) from a successful monthly to an even more successful weekly - which I successfully did. As well as managing the team, I personally handled sales with the big five motor manufacturers, in the case of Ford worth £250k per annum to the business. 

Joining Johansens as Marketing Manager was a challenge. This aspiring hotel guide represented quality, independent hoteliers to discerning businessmen and travellers in the UK but also overseas. I developed a strategy to increase guide sales from 10k to 40k per annum. Of particular success was a relationship to market and sell the guides into the US via a specialist distributor. So successful was the campaign over two years that my efforts were acknowledged when I was presented to John Major at 10 Downing Street as part of an evening to recognize people who had brought inbound tourism into the UK. During the first Gulf war, hotels in the UK felt the pinch. I developed a series of high profile 'Two for One' promotions with Daily Mail and The Times that produced a massive uplift in business as a consequence. 

I took my first MD's role with Bargain Pages, Birmingham's young and upcoming free-ads paper. By installing a young management team I was able to grow the business quickly. At its height, we published 85k free classified ads a week through two weekly editions. The title became WH Smith Birmingham's biggest earning publication (apart from the daily newspapers). I was instrumental in developing and implementing high profile marketing campaigns. Whilst with the business I was invited to chair FAPIA (Free-Ads Papers International Association), which I did for two years. 

There followed a period when I had my own business - Selected Hotels Ltd - a similar business model to Johansens. The 9/11 atrocity, which made Americans reluctant to travel, was the reason I decided to close the business. I then spent some time in interim management with Associa (working on behalf of NFU) and the IGD before moving into exhibitions.

I have rediscovered my zest for publishing in my present role and enjoy editing the quarterly Report Magazine for members of IIMS and the wider shipping and boating world.