David Pemsel named CEO of Guardian Media Group

London, 18 June 2015: Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) today announces that David Pemsel has been appointed as chief executive officer, succeeding Andrew Miller.

The appointment of Pemsel – currently deputy chief executive, Guardian News & Media – comes at a time of sharply increased digital revenues, higher overall sales and increased investment in award-winning journalism at the company behind theguardian.com and the Guardian and Observer newspapers.

Neil Berkett, chair of GMG, said: “David has been a key architect of GNM’s commercial success, digital strategy and international expansion. I am therefore delighted that he is now stepping up to the top job, unquestionably one of the most demanding and exciting roles in the media industry. I know that he will build on the strong strategic platform put in place by Andrew Miller, who has done an outstanding job as chief executive. David’s appointment, following a thorough executive search, signals our confidence in the future potential of our journalism and our portfolio.”

David Pemsel said: “GMG has changed dramatically in recent years, both in the markets it serves and the technologies at its disposal. I am hugely excited at the prospect of managing the next phase of growth at the Guardian, building on our international audience, capitalising on the many commercial and digital opportunities, and, above all, ensuring that our journalism thrives in the years ahead.”

Pemsel – who takes up his new role on 1 July 2015 – will manage the commercial, investment and financial strategy of GMG. He will work closely with Katharine Viner, who became editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media earlier this month, succeeding Alan Rusbridger.

In a recent full-year trading update for the financial year ending March 29 2015, GMG said it expected to report a third consecutive year of revenue growth, with group revenues up by 3% to more than £215 million, driven primarily by growth in digital revenue exceeding 20% to over £80 million. Rising digital sales more than offset slowing print newspaper circulation and volatile advertising demand, with group losses from continuing operations expected to narrow for the financial year. GMG will publish its full-year financial report and accounts in July 2015.

Further information:

Guardian News & Media Press Office
t: +44 (0)20 3353 3696
e: media.enquiries@theguardian.com

Notes for editors

About David Pemsel

David Pemsel joined Guardian News & Media (GNM) in 2011 and, as chief marketing officer, oversaw the company’s first full brand campaign in over 25 years. ‘The Whole Picture’ campaign went on to win a prestigious ‘gold lion’ prize at the 2012 Cannes Lions awards.
David was appointed chief commercial officer in 2012 and, a year later, took on increased accountability for the GNM business in the newly-created role of deputy chief executive, GNM. In that role, David has overall responsibility for all commercial operations in the UK, the US and Australia, integrating and leading all three businesses into one truly global organisation right across marketing and audience insight, guardianmedia, jobs, labs, consumer revenues, membership, and commercial delivery. In 2014, the Guardian was awarded Media Week’s Sales Team of the Year, fending off competition from all the other media owners in the UK.

Prior to joining GNM, David worked in many senior roles within advertising and marketing. In 2000 he launched Shine Entertainment before joining ITV as Marketing Director in 2005.

David is a fellow of the Marketing Society, Council member of the Marketing Group of Great Britain and a Voting Member of BAFTA.

About GMG

Guardian Media Group (GMG) is one of the UK’s leading media organisations. Its core business is Guardian News & Media (GNM), publisher of theguardian.com which, with over 120 million unique browsers a month, is one of the largest English-speaking quality newspaper websites in the world. In the UK, GNM publishes the Guardian newspaper six days a week and the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, The Observer.

GMG’s investments provide financial security and support for our journalism. The portfolio includes interests in Top Right Group, the B2B publishing, events and information business; Seven Publishing, an award-winning content marketing agency; and Decoded, the code and data education and digital transformation company. GMG has also built a cash and investment fund of more than £800 million, which includes the proceeds from the 2014 disposal of its 50.1% holding in Trader Media Group. GMG delivers the financial security that allows The Scott Trust to achieve its central objective: the editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity. The business conduct of the Group is guided by The Scott Trust values. For further information visit www.gmgplc.co.uk