At the same time, Southbank has restructured its senior management team to create the new role of business development director for Marie Claire and Look, which will be taken up by Richard Johnstone (pictured top), who is currently publishing director of Marie Claire.
IPC Southbank managing director Jackie Newcombe says: “The arrival of Look in IPC Southbank to sit alongside our other joint venture title, Marie Claire, opens up tremendous opportunities for Look to benefit from Southbank’s established fashion and beauty advertising expertise and relationships. The move also firmly establishes Southbank as the biggest and most influential publishing business in the fashion sector.
“The creation of the business development director role is about communicating the partnership opportunities that have grown out of the fantastic development work done by the Look and Marie Claire teams. This role will also encompass e-commerce, which is a growing part of Southbank’s activities. Richard is exactly the right person to take the business on to this new level.”
In addition, Justine Southall (picture below) will be joining Southbank to become publishing director of Marie Claire. Until recently, Justine was group publishing director of the Cosmopolitan Group at the National Magazine Company and was advertising director at Marie Claire earlier in her career.
Jackie says: “I’m really thrilled to be able to bring in a publisher of Justine’s calibre. Everyone in the industry knows her to be a very talented, experienced and energetic leader. We have worked together before and she will be a fantastic addition to the team here.”
Justine says: “I am so excited to be working on Marie Claire after so long. It is a fantastic international brand and is as relevant now to modern women as it ever was. There is a huge opportunity to extend the brand further by continuing to drive its evolution across multiple platforms, and to maximise its consumer and industry affection and loyalty. Can’t wait to start!”
Meanwhile, Julie Lavington, PPA Consumer Magazines Publisher of the Year 2010, remains publishing director of Look.
Look’s move into Southbank takes immediate effect. Richard and Justine take up their new roles on 3 May 2011.
