As CEO of Hearst UK, James has overall management responsibility for the company. He joined in April 2017 with a wealth of experience in transforming media companies, and was elevated to President, Hearst Europe in September 2019 adding oversight of Hearst in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany to his remit. Hearst is the UK’s leading premium content and experiences business, publishing 26 iconic brands including ELLE, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire. Hearst UK circulates more than five million magazines a month and its award-winning content is engaged with by more than 20 million monthly digital UK users. Every year over a million people attend Hearst’s highly acclaimed events such as the Country Living Fairs and Red Smart Women Week. At Hearst, James has led a business turnaround, culminating in a return to top-line revenue growth in 2018 after several years of decline. The company has gone from strength to strength under James’ leadership to accelerate its revenue diversification and digital development strategy, which has paid strong dividends. A relentless focus on cultural transformation has also driven strong gains in team engagement and business success. James has worked in the media industry for over 25 years and joined Hearst from Reach PLC (previously Trinity Mirror) where he was Chief Revenue Officer from 2014 with responsibility for commercial revenue across the group. From 2011, he was Yahoo’s Managing Director, UK & Ireland, responsible for leading Yahoo’s biggest market outside the US. Prior to that, James worked in TV, with stints at ITV and other commercial television businesses, working his way up to become Managing Director of Virgin Media’s television sales house from 2005.