IPC Unveils New Publishing Group Identities
IPC Magazines has unveiled the first major changes to its publishing operations since the group was bought from owners Reed Elsevier for £860 million by the management team last year (see IPC Magazines Gains Independence). Following the loss of around 200 jobs at the publisher (see 200 Jobs To Go In IPC Restructure), the five main publishing groups have been made autonomous from one another and given new identities.
The TV Weeklies group becomes IPC tx and Women’s Weeklies will become IPC Connect. The SouthBank Publishing group, which publishes Living etc and Marie Claire, will now now be known as IPC SouthBank Publishing Company. The Country & Leisure Group and Music & Sport Group become IPC Country & Leisure Media and IPC Music & Sport respectively.
IPC’s chief executive, Mike Matthew, says: “This is the moment we have been working towards. Each of the five new companies now has the opportunity to shape their own destinies, to establish their own cultures and build their own strategies.”
Some IPC insiders have said that the group had become staid and slow to act due to its bureaucratic structure. The new, devolved structure should allow IPC to be a little more light on its feet, as Matthew says: “When we announced our intention to restructure IPC, our aim was to create a more flexible, entrepreneurial and creative publishing environment. This is now in place.”
Sylvia Auton, managing director of Country & Leisure Media, says that the division has invested heavily in its current portfolio as well as in new launches. “We will also actively be seeking acquisitions,” she says.
The Music & Sport division, which publishes Loaded, is to focus on new media as part of its brand extensions. Managing director, Andy McDuff, says: “Brand extensions are a key part of IPC Music & Sport’s strategy, broadening our magazines into TV, radio and the internet. We must be at the leading edge of new media developments.” Music & Sport launches Later, the first major new title from the ‘new IPC’, at the end of this month.
“As an independent publishing organisation, IPC set itself the mission to become a world class business delivering innovative and powerful brands… and expanding its core print-on-paper products into new and dynamic growth areas.”
IPC Magazines: 0171 261 6575