Guardian Media Group
Encyclopedia
Guardian Media Group plc (often referred to as GMG) is a company of the United Kingdom owning various mass media
operations including The Guardian
and The Observer
. The Group is owned by the Scott Trust
. It was founded as the Manchester Guardian Ltd in 1907 when C. P. Scott
bought the Manchester Guardian from the estate of his cousin Edward Taylor. It became the Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd when it bought out the Manchester Evening News in 1924, later becoming the Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd to reflect the change in the morning paper's title. It adopted its current name in 1993. Its previous chief executive was Carolyn McCall
, formerly Chief Executive of Guardian News and Media Limited and a former non-executive director of Tesco
and chair of Opportunity Now. McCall left in June 2010 after being appointed Chief Executive of EasyJet
. She was replaced by Andrew Miller in July 2010, he had previously been Chief Financial Officer of the Group.
GMG has various divisions and joint venture businesses: Guardian News & Media (the Guardian, the Observer, guardian.co.uk); GMG Radio (regional radio stations under the Smooth, Real, and Rock Radio brands); Trader Media Group (the Auto Trader magazine and website), which it owns jointly with private equity firm Apax); GMG Property Services (estate agency software providers Vebra and Core, lettings software provider CFP Software, graphic design consultancy The Media Design House and consumer portal ThinkProperty.com); and Emap, the B2B events, data and publishing company, also jointly owned with Apax.
Guardian Media Group exists to support the core purpose of its owner, the Scott Trust: to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity.
In March 2007 GMG sold 49.9% of Trader Media Group to Apax Partners, in a deal that valued Trader Media Group at £1.35 billion. In December 2007 it was announced that GMG and Apax had made a successful bid to buy Emap's business-to-business arm for around £1 billion.
In February 2010, the group sold its GMG Regional Media division (consisting of two companies MEN Media and S&B Media which operated 31 local and regional newspaper titles) to Trinity Mirror plc for £44.8 million. The sale ended the historic connection between The Guardian
and the Manchester Evening News
. The division's local television station for Greater Manchester, Channel M
, and two newspapers in Woking
were not included in the sale.
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
operations including The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
. The Group is owned by the Scott Trust
Scott Trust
The Scott Trust Limited is the British company which owns Guardian Media Group and thus The Guardian, The Observer and Auto Trader as well as various local newspapers, Smooth Radio and other radio stations, and various other media businesses in the UK...
. It was founded as the Manchester Guardian Ltd in 1907 when C. P. Scott
C. P. Scott
Charles Prestwich Scott was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 until 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death...
bought the Manchester Guardian from the estate of his cousin Edward Taylor. It became the Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd when it bought out the Manchester Evening News in 1924, later becoming the Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd to reflect the change in the morning paper's title. It adopted its current name in 1993. Its previous chief executive was Carolyn McCall
Carolyn McCall
Carolyn McCall OBE , is the current Chief Executive of EasyJet.The only child of British expatriate parents , she was educated in India and Singapore until her teens, then at a Roman Catholic girls' boarding...
, formerly Chief Executive of Guardian News and Media Limited and a former non-executive director of Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
and chair of Opportunity Now. McCall left in June 2010 after being appointed Chief Executive of EasyJet
EasyJet
EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...
. She was replaced by Andrew Miller in July 2010, he had previously been Chief Financial Officer of the Group.
GMG has various divisions and joint venture businesses: Guardian News & Media (the Guardian, the Observer, guardian.co.uk); GMG Radio (regional radio stations under the Smooth, Real, and Rock Radio brands); Trader Media Group (the Auto Trader magazine and website), which it owns jointly with private equity firm Apax); GMG Property Services (estate agency software providers Vebra and Core, lettings software provider CFP Software, graphic design consultancy The Media Design House and consumer portal ThinkProperty.com); and Emap, the B2B events, data and publishing company, also jointly owned with Apax.
Guardian Media Group exists to support the core purpose of its owner, the Scott Trust: to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity.
In March 2007 GMG sold 49.9% of Trader Media Group to Apax Partners, in a deal that valued Trader Media Group at £1.35 billion. In December 2007 it was announced that GMG and Apax had made a successful bid to buy Emap's business-to-business arm for around £1 billion.
In February 2010, the group sold its GMG Regional Media division (consisting of two companies MEN Media and S&B Media which operated 31 local and regional newspaper titles) to Trinity Mirror plc for £44.8 million. The sale ended the historic connection between The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and the Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
. The division's local television station for Greater Manchester, Channel M
Channel m
Channel M is a regional television station, based in Manchester, England. It began broadcasting on 14 February 2000 as Manchester Student Television and is owned and operated by the Guardian Media Group.-Coverage:...
, and two newspapers in Woking
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
were not included in the sale.
Board of directors
The Board of Directors are:- Amelia Fawcett (chair)
- Andrew Miller (CFO)
- Tim Brooks
- Alan RusbridgerAlan RusbridgerAlan Charles Rusbridger is the editor of the British newspaper The Guardian. He has also been a reporter and a columnist.-Early life:...
- Brent HobermanBrent HobermanBrent Hoberman, together with Martha Lane Fox, founded Lastminute.com in 1998, an online travel and gift business that floated at the peak of the dot-com bubble and managed to survive the subsequent burst of the bubble....
- Nick Backhouse
- Neil Berkett
- Judy Gibbons