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Nina completed a BSC (Hons) Psychology Degree in Liverpool before undertaking a career in the media industry over 25 years ago. Nina joined New Scientist Media Company as CEO in October 2018 and was part of the brokerage team that completed the transaction to DMGT in 2021. Today Nina is the Chair of Harmsworth Media, a DMGT company that includes New Scientist and i national newspaper.
Nina’s experience spans consumer and B2B media and events, she is renowned for creating innovative strategies for businesses that deliver accelerated growth, both from existing products and new digital product development. Nina is a highly regarded media professional with institutional knowledge and experience in subscriptions.
Nina is also the Chair of FIDO, a revolutionary VC backed AI technology startup that identifies water leakages, she is also an active mentor, and particularly enjoys offering support to aspirational women leaders.
Sajeeda Merali joined the PPA as CEO in 2021, with an agenda to transform the way the PPA represents and supports its 200+ UK multi-media business members, consumer magazine publishers, business-to-business data and information providers, customer magazine publishers and smaller independents.
A strategic leader with 20 years’ experience in the publishing industry, Sajeeda has held senior positions with both B2B and consumer-facing organisations, with extensive experience in change management and strategy development.
She joined the PPA from the New Statesman Media Group, where she was Chief Revenue Officer responsible for identifying high-value digital opportunities and launching commercial strategy for new brands in highly competitive markets.
Prior to that, she was the commercial leader of the Insider Publishing Division at Euromoney PLC and has held senior positions at Incisive Media, where she was influential in driving cultural and strategic change.
Sajeeda is on the board of the Advertising Association, PLS, FIPP, CAP, PAMCo and ABC.
In 2018 she won the WACL Futures Award and continues to be an active member, as well as co-founder of the Amal network, which champions Muslim women in the workplace.
Amanda’s experience spans publishing, digital media, membership, events, conferences, and exhibitions. She led a management buy-out of Faversham House in 2010 and subsequently bought out her private equity partners a few years later. With her fellow directors, she has been responsible for repositioning the company as an omni-channel digital intelligence business building on the company’s strong brands in utilities, sustainability, and visual communications.
Sean is CEO of Immediate, home to trusted brands that people love, including Radio Times, Good Food, BBC Gardeners’ World magazine and HistoryExtra.
An experienced digital leader, in both fast-scaling and high-growth digital pure-plays and established global brands, Sean has a strong track record of building and leading significant revenue generating businesses, through accelerating growth, driving change and scaling operations. Sean joined Immediate in 2021 as Platforms CEO, with responsibility for Immediate’s digital businesses, and was appointed Immediate CEO in May 2023.
Sean has overseen the scaled growth of Immediate’s digital subscriptions business, with the launch of premium paid-for digital products in Food, History and Gardening, and the acquisition of Nutracheck, the UK’s leading subscription-based weight management and dietary improvement app. Immediate now has over 600,000 digital subscribers and is the UK’s leading media publisher for subscriptions across digital and print.
With over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership positions, Sean’s previous roles include CEO of Direct Ferries, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer of Travelex and MD International at eHarmony, as well as other senior general management and marketing roles at Google and various start-ups.
For nearly 30 years, Simon has focused on bringing businesses to life through meaningful connections. Before establishing Arc, Simon was CEO of Comexposium, where he led the transformation of an historically French business to become the third largest pure-play events organiser in the world and delivered a highly successful PE sale.
Simon also spent 19 years with UBM, now Informa, notably as CEO of EMEA and Americas. He has a strong track record of driving organic and acquisition-driven growth, launching products globally, cultivating and building partnerships, and delivering strong profits.
Simon is Chair of the AEO International Working Group, a Board member of SISO, and a Trustee of Dreams Come True.
Natalia Gamero del Castillo is a forward thinking manager with more than 20 years of experience leading media companies and digital transformation. In her current role as Managing Director Condé Nast Europe (since January 2021) she is overseeing the European market which includes teams in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain reaching 100 million consumers every month.
Gamero del Castillo has held a number of senior positions at Condé Nast during her nearly 20 years with the company, including CEO of Condé Nast Spain. In this role, she led the company through its digital transformation, devising and implementing new systems and processes and boosting editorial innovation that led to impressive audience reach and quality.
Prior to joining Condé Nast, Gamero del Castillo held various editorial roles, such as editor at El Cultural de El Mundo, the prestigious supplement for El Mundo national newspaper. She also worked for VIA DIGITAL, one of the first TV platforms in Spain.
Gamero del Castillo received her Bachelor Degree in Law from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and her PDG (General Management Program) from IESE Business School.
Robert joined Metropolis Group in 2011 as Group Chief Executive, and has led the mainly B2B and niche B2C media group through a period of change during which revenues have been increased from £15m to £55m through a combination of acquisitions, digital and events growth.
Before joining Metropolis, Robert was Chief Operating Office of William Reed from 2007 with responsibility for the global brands and digital, data and conference businesses. Prior to that from 2001 Robert was William Reed’s Group Finance Director and between 2002 to 2006 also publishing director of its food manufacturing brands. Previously Robert was a consultant at software business Lost Wax and Finance Director of Stemcor UK, the world’s largest steel trading group. Robert qualified as a chartered accountant at BDO.
Founded by Tilly and her business partner 22 years ago, Think is a UK media group specialising in producing multichannel content and consultancy for membership organisations, brands and the travel sector.
The group brings together Think, our content and publishing agency, Think Travel, our travel publishing brands, and Re:Think, our publishing consultancy. We have over 70 staff across England and Scotland, and the group is still fully owned by the founders.
Tilly is also a Trustee of the think tank, Demos, a non-executive director of Welbeck Publishing Group (formerly Carlton Books) and sits on the Development Board of the National Youth Theatre.
Steve is a senior executive with 20 years’ experience in cross-platform media, leading and developing digital and print businesses.
He joined Bauer in 2020, as Managing Director their UK’s Sport & Women’s Specialist Portfolio, from TI Media/Future Publishing where he worked as Managing Director of Country Life and Cycling Weekly over the past four years.
Prior to that he founded content marketing company High Line, working with clients such as Time Inc UK and Archant.
Charles is Chair of William Reed Group, the trusted digital, high value data and events business serving the food and drinks sector for over 160 years.
The business, established in 1862, is a fifth-generation family-owned company employing over 300 people in the UK, France, USA & Singapore. William Reed produces multi-platform digital and print media, compelling research, powerful insights, innovative exhibitions and events, prestigious awards and informative conferences.
Tamsyn Spires became Publisher of HELLO! Ltd in June 2018 with a clear brief to deliver growth through new opportunities and to move the business forward in a new digital direction.
HELLO! Ltd has seen substantial growth in its digital reach and new platform development, alongside this print has remained at the heart of the business and retains its strong position in the market. Tamsyn worked at Bauer for 4 years heading up Grazia and The Debrief as the commercial head of the brands. Previously to that Tamsyn was at Hearst Magazines for many years where she held Sales Director positions across numerous titles; Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar and Red.
Mandy is Director, Magazines at BBC Studios. She is responsible for Top Gear magazine and Topgear.com as well as the strategic partnership with Immediate Media for the stable of BBC branded magazines. This is Mandy’s second stint with the commercial arm of the BBC having previously been the MD of Galleon (Dovetail). She has worked in roles across the publishing industry for her entire career.
As Chief Executive Officer, Katie Vanneck-Smith has overall management responsibility for leading premium content and experience business, Hearst UK.
Katie has a wealth of experience innovating in the media industry, having worked for both large-scale corporations and more recently launching a successful startup.
Katie joined Hearst UK in December 2022 from Tortoise Media, a global media outlet that she co-founded in 2018. Prior to that, she was President and Chief Customer Officer of Dow Jones, where she helped build and lead The Wall Street Journal’s successful online membership-based business.
Katie has also held senior roles at The Telegraph Media Group and The Times. As Chief Marketing Officer at The Times, Katie led the architecture of the newspaper’s early move to paid digital subscriptions and was responsible for creating the UK’s first news membership brand, Times+. Katie also oversaw the company’s events programmes, including both The Wall Street Journal CEO Council and The Times CEO Summit.
Joel Griffiths is the VP of Magazines & Editorial Operations at Future plc, where he leads a broad portfolio encompassing key weekly magazine brands, bookazines, editorial operations, as well as cross-functional teams focused on subscriptions, newstrade, licensing, production and supply chain distribution.
Prior to his current role, Joel has over 20 years of experience in the publishing and media industry, holding senior leadership roles in both commercial and operational areas, working with a diverse set of leading Independent Publishing and Media businesses.
From 2020 Joel served as the Managing Director of Marketforce, where he helped develop a print centre of excellence with a growing remit across Future PLC’s magazine business and Distribution partner to a host of Independent Publishing and Media businesses.
Alongside his current role in the strategic governance of Future’s B2C Magazine business, he is also a member of the Executive Leadership Team of Future’s B2C division.
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