Both appointments to be effective immediately.
Oliver Poole, a former foreign correspondent, has held a number of senior management roles across ESI Media titles since 2011 including head of Special Projects for the Evening Standard and Executive Editor of the Independent.
In this new role, Poole will communicate directly with the Editors across ESI Media titles to ensure consistency of purpose and to achieve the broader editorial objectives of the group, and he will have responsibility for the direction, content and delivery of all group editorial campaigns. He will report to John Paton, Chairman of the Evening Standard and Independent and Charles Yardley, Chief Executive Officer of the Evening Standard.
Poole said, “It is an exciting time to be starting in this new position. Our recent cross-title food campaign demonstrated the power of our brands and what can be achieved by highlighting an issue and making an impact. This same power, energy and cross-title cooperation must continue to be harnessed in the coming months, not least in our efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade and its zoonotic risks that will be a major focus for rest of 2020.”
Laura Weir is the long time editor of ES Magazine. During her tenure, the magazine won National Magazine of the year at the 2019 News Awards.
In her new role, Weir, who will retain her position as Editor of ES Magazine, will be responsible for the creative direction of all ESI Media brands, ensuring a cohesive strategy across all brands and the development of new revenue streams.
As Editor of ES Magazine, Weir will continue to report to Emily Sheffield, Editor of the Evening Standard and to John Paton, Chairman of the Evening Standard and Independent and Charles Yardley, Chief Executive Officer of the Evening Standard in her additional role as Chief Creative Officer of ESI Media.
Weir said, “Creativity is at the heart of what makes our editorial content special. I look forward to working with Editors and their teams across our titles to ensure ESI Media sits at the valuable intersection of content, commerce and creativity - while continuing to ensure ES Magazine remains the leading weekly title it has become.”
Chairman of the Independent and Evening Standard, John Paton, said, "I am pleased Oliver and Laura have taken on these new roles. Our titles are expanding rapidly and, as we have seen on everything from our views on fashion to our fight to end illegal wildlife trade, we are having an impact globally. It is important for our future growth we leverage our efforts across all of our titles."
