Future plc

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Future plc
Company type Public limited company
Industry magazine and internet publishing
Founded 1985 ; 39 years ago  ( 1985 )
Founder Chris Anderson
Headquarters Bath, Somerset , England
Key people
Revenue Decrease ￡ 788.9 million (2023) [1]
Decrease ￡174.5 million (2023) [1]
Decrease ￡113.4 million (2023) [1]
Number of employees
2,920 (2023) [1]
Subsidiaries
Website futureplc .com Edit this at Wikidata
Chris Anderson in 2007
Company office in Bath

Future plc is a British publishing company . It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson . It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index .

Among its many titles are Country Life , Homes and Gardens , Decanter , Marie Claire , and The Week . Zillah Byng-Thorne was chief executive officer from 2014 to 2023, when she was replaced by Jon Steinberg .

History [ edit ]

1985?2012 [ edit ]

The company was founded by Chris Anderson as Future Publishing in Somerton, Somerset , England, with the sole magazine Amstrad Action in 1985. [2] An early innovation was the inclusion of free software on magazine covers. [2] It acquired GP Publications so establishing Future US in 1994. [3]

Anderson sold the company to Pearson plc for ￡52.7m in 1994, but bought it back in 1998, for ￡142 million. [2] The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1999. [4] Anderson left the company in 2001. [5]

In 2004 the company was accused of corruption when it published positive reviews for the video game Driver 3 in two of its owned magazines, Xbox World and PSM2 . [6]

2012?2015 [ edit ]

Future published the official magazines for the consoles of all three major games console manufacturers ( Microsoft , Nintendo , and Sony ); however PlayStation: The Official Magazine ceased publishing in November 2012, and Official Nintendo Magazine ceased publishing in October 2014. [7] [8]

The chief executive and finance director both resigned at short notice after a profit warning in October 2011. It was noted that a re-structuring would be necessary as the company moved to a digital model. [9]

Future announced it would cut 55 jobs from its UK operation as part of a restructuring to adapt "more effectively to the company's rapid transition to a primarily digital business model." [10] The company announced in March 2014 that it would close all of its U.S.-based print publications and shift U.S. print support functions such as consumer marketing, production and editorial leadership for Future's international print brands to the UK. [11] Later in 2014, Future sold its sport and craft titles to Immediate Media , and its auto titles to Kelsey Media. [12]

In April 2014 Zillah Byng-Thorne , then finance director, was appointed chief executive, replacing Mark Wood, who had been in the position since 2011. [11]

2016?present [ edit ]

In 2018, Future made further major acquisitions. It bought the What Hi-Fi? , FourFourTwo , Practical Caravan and Practical Motorhome brands from Haymarket and it acquired NewBay Media , publisher of numerous broadcast, professional video, and systems integration trade titles, as well as several consumer music magazines. [13] This acquisition returned most of the U.S. consumer music magazines to Future, with the exception of Revolver which had been sold to Project Group M LLC in 2017. [14]

It bought the Purch Group for $132m by September 2018, [15] [16] and in February 2019 bought Mobile Nations including Android Central, iMore, Windows Central and Thrifter for $115 million. [17] [18] Future also acquired Procycling and Cyclingnews.com from Immediate Media . [19] In July 2019 the company bought SmartBrief, a digital media publisher, for an initial sum of $45 million. [20]

In November 2019 the company bought Barcroft Studios for ￡23.5 million in a combination of cash and shares. [21] It renamed it Future Studios and announced the launch of "Future Originals", an anthology gaming series, a factual series focusing on the paranormal, and a new true crime show, in partnership with Marie Claire . [22]

In April 2020 it acquired TI Media , with 41 brands for ￡140 million, [23] and, in November 2020, it agreed a ￡594m takeover of GoCo plc, known for its Gocompare.com price comparison website. [24] In August 2021, it acquired another 12 magazines for ￡300 million. [25]

The company was criticised in February 2022 for the size of the remuneration package being offered to Zillah Byng-Thorne, the chief executive. It was noted that she could receive ￡40 million if the company performs well. [26]

Byng-Thorne resigned with effect from 3 April 2023 and was replaced as chief executive by Jon Steinberg . [27]

Organisation [ edit ]

In addition to media and magazines, the company has two other businesses:

  • Future Studios is its video division, built upon the acquisition of Barcroft Media in 2019. [28]
  • Marketforce is its sales, marketing and distribution company, acquired as part of a 2019 deal with TI Media. [29]

Brands [ edit ]

Future's portfolio of brands included TechRadar , PC Gamer , Tom's Guide , Tom's Hardware , Marie Claire , GamesRadar+ , All About Space , How it Works , CinemaBlend , Android Central , IT Pro , iMore, and Windows Central . [30] [31] [32]

References [ edit ]

  1. ^ a b c d "Annual Report 2023" (PDF) . Future plc . Retrieved 12 February 2024 .
  2. ^ a b c Nicholas, Ruth (11 July 1999). "Profile: Chris Anderson: Media with passion" . The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013.
  3. ^ Cox, Howard; Mowatt, Simon (2014). Revolutions from Grub Street: A History of Magazine Publishing in Britain . Oxford University Press. p. 220. ISBN   978-0199601639 . Archived from the original on 16 August 2023 . Retrieved 11 November 2020 .
  4. ^ "Can new Future CEO end 15 years of boom & bust?" . Flashes and Flames. 6 April 2014. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023 . Retrieved 17 June 2019 .
  5. ^ Walters, Helen (18 February 2010). "TED's Not Dead, But It Is Aging: The annual conference tries to reach out to a new generation, awkwardly" . Business Week . Archived from the original on 21 February 2010 . Retrieved 16 March 2010 .
  6. ^ Lui, Spandas (30 March 2010). "A history of gaming's biggest scandals" . PC World . Archived from the original on 30 June 2016 . Retrieved 4 May 2023 .
  7. ^ Santos, Alexis (7 November 2012). "PlayStation: The Official Magazine being shuttered, will say farewell with holiday issue" . Engadget ( Joystiq ). Archived from the original on 22 January 2013 . Retrieved 6 December 2012 .
  8. ^ "Another blow to print journalism: Future Publishing profits fall 61%" . Gamer Limit. 28 November 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010 . Retrieved 17 October 2010 .
  9. ^ "Future CEO and FD resign, names replacements" . Reuters. 27 October 2011. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023 . Retrieved 23 March 2023 .
  10. ^ Mark Sweney (3 September 2013). "Future Publishing to cut 55 jobs" . The Guardian . Archived from the original on 9 December 2018 . Retrieved 9 December 2018 .
  11. ^ a b Future US streamlined to focus on digital Archived 8 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine , RNS Number : 3903D, Future PLC, 28 March 2014
  12. ^ Sweney, Mark (21 November 2014). "Future Publishing cuts more than 400 jobs as part of restructure" . The Guardian . Archived from the original on 9 December 2018 . Retrieved 21 December 2014 .
  13. ^ Tom Butts (4 April 2018). "Future Publishing Acquires US Content Business NewBay Media" . TV Technology . Archived from the original on 9 December 2018 . Retrieved 4 April 2018 .
  14. ^ Blabbermouth (1 May 2017). "REVOLVER Magazine Sold To Digital Media Company PROJECT M GROUP; Brand Relaunch Planned For This Fall" . BLABBERMOUTH.NET . Archived from the original on 1 November 2018 . Retrieved 23 December 2018 .
  15. ^ "Purch sells B2C imprints to global specialist media publisher Future in $132m deal" . The Drum . Archived from the original on 9 December 2018 . Retrieved 29 July 2018 .
  16. ^ "Future buys Purch to boost US revenue" . Digiday . 18 July 2018. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018 . Retrieved 29 July 2018 .
  17. ^ "Future : Acquisition of Mobile Nations | MarketScreener" . m.marketscreener.com . March 2019. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023 . Retrieved 3 November 2020 .
  18. ^ "Accelerates Mobile Nations earnout payment" . otp.investis.com . Archived from the original on 11 July 2023 . Retrieved 20 October 2019 .
  19. ^ "Back to Future: Immediate sells CyclingNews and Procycling to Future plc, their previous owner" . Bicycle Retailer and Industry News . Archived from the original on 21 March 2023 . Retrieved 16 November 2019 .
  20. ^ "Acquisition of SmartBrief" . otp.investis.com . Archived from the original on 11 July 2023 . Retrieved 20 October 2019 .
  21. ^ televisual.com. "Televisual Business Magazine For The Broadcast & Production Community" . Televisual . Archived from the original on 22 March 2023 . Retrieved 22 March 2023 .
  22. ^ "True Crime Series 'On the Record with Marie Claire' at Future Studios" . Variety. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023 . Retrieved 22 March 2023 .
  23. ^ "Proposed Acquisition of TI Media for ￡140 million" . otp.investis.com . 30 October 2019. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023 . Retrieved 31 October 2019 .
  24. ^ Sweney, Mark (25 November 2020). "Country Life publisher Future to buy GoCompare for ￡594m" . The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Archived from the original on 3 June 2023 . Retrieved 9 January 2021 .
  25. ^ "Country Life owner buys Dennis Publishing in ￡300m deal" . The Guardian . 16 August 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021 . Retrieved 16 September 2021 .
  26. ^ "Country Life publisher reeling after shareholder revolt over executive pay" . The Guardian . 3 February 2022. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023 . Retrieved 23 March 2023 .
  27. ^ Spangler, Todd (22 February 2023). "Jon Steinberg, Former BuzzFeed and Cheddar Exec, Tapped as CEO of U.K. Publisher Future" . Variety . Archived from the original on 21 March 2023 . Retrieved 12 March 2023 .
  28. ^ televisual.com; Reporter, Staff (15 November 2019). "Barcroft Studios bought by Future plc for ￡23.5m" . Televisual . Archived from the original on 22 March 2023 . Retrieved 22 March 2023 .
  29. ^ "Why Future is buying TI Media" . Flashes & Flames . 1 November 2019. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023 . Retrieved 22 March 2023 .
  30. ^ "Future Celebrates Market Leading Position As Largest Tech News Publisher" . GlobeNewswire (Press release). 23 September 2022. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022 . Retrieved 5 December 2022 .
  31. ^ Partis, Danielle (15 September 2022). "Future makes editorial layoffs despite 'high' revenue projections" . GamesIndustry . Archived from the original on 15 September 2022 . Retrieved 5 December 2022 .
  32. ^ Staff (16 August 2021). "UK's Future Plc to buy 'The Week' publisher for $415 mln" . Reuters . Archived from the original on 10 February 2023 . Retrieved 10 February 2023 .

External links [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Future plc .
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