IPC shuffles its leadership pack

by MediaWeek, Media Week 23-Nov-04

Publishing giant IPC has announced a raft of changes in its senior management across some of its biggest-selling magazines.

The moves, which will take effect early next year, will see four publishing directors promoted to take up new responsibilities across the magazine portfolio, including its market-leading TV listings division, TX.

They come in the wake of Georgina Crace, managing director of IPC Advertising, revealing earlier this month that she was leaving to become MD of Trinity Mirror’s regional division.

A spokesman for IPC said that, because Crace was on maternity leave, a reporting structure that dealt with her absence was already in place and so the company has not moved to replace her yet.

Neil Robinson, currently publishing director for NME and Uncut, is to join TX as publishing director for TV Times , TV & Satellite Week and Soaplife. Robinson has worked on the Ignite! music titles for 10 years and was involved in the relaunch of music magazine NME, for which he was awarded Publisher of the Year at the 2004 PPA Consumer Magazine Awards.

Charlie Meredith, currently business director within TX, stays with the TV listings magazines but takes on the new role of publishing director for the UK’s biggest-selling consumer magazine, What’s on TV.

Meredith, who joined TX in 1992, will also be responsible for the TX listings department, new product development and new business.

The changes follow the news that director of brand and business development Pippa Pollard is to join IPC parent company Time Inc during spring 2005, on secondment to its strategic planning department.

Explaining the restructure, IPC TX managing director Philippa Brown said: “I decided that the portfolio needed greater focus at title level and that the best way of doing this is to create publishing roles with title responsibility.”

The two other publishing changes affect both IPC Connect and IPC South Bank portfolios.

Sarah Summers, publishing director for Connect’s Now and Mizz, is to move to IPC South Bank to take on the role of publishing director for PPA Award winner In Style, as well as Hair, Practical Parenting and Wedding & Home.

She will be replaced by Kirsten Price, the current publishing director for Practical Parenting, Hair and Wedding & Home.

Sylvia Auton, IPC Media’s chief executive, said: “These changes will allow some of our most experienced publishing managers to bring their expertise to new markets; they will extend cross-divisional learning and drive some of our core brands to even greater heights.”

By Julia Martin