The changing face of publishing: Haymarket Media Group’s story

Haymarket Media Group is one of So it actually seemed like we were the biggest players in the editorial losing great opportunities overseas. and publishing sector, both in the Michael had experience in politics UK and overseas, with titles and, therefore, probably viewed including What Car, What Hi-fi, Stuff, the world a little differently to FourFourTwo and Gramophone the way we looked at it. We made amongst many others. We met up mistakes along the way, but we with Rupert Heseltine, Company learnt from those mistakes and Chairman, to find out more about now we’re growing well overseas, the future of the industry and his which is fantastic.” Rupert Heseltine views on Haymarket’s success. The company’s maxim is ‘Know In just over half a century, Haymarket what you’re talking about, create has grown from a small publishing something great, and it will attract house to a global presence in the a strong following. And that will bring media world. Do you think that revenues.’ Does Rupert feel that it’s your father, Michael (now Lord) this level of expertise and vision that Heseltine, could have predicted the has driven Haymarket’s success? success of the company when he “We stuck with our heritage, which founded Haymarket back in 1957? is our verticals – i.e. new cars, hi-fis, “I think my father always had gadgets etc. If you go across, it’s a lot intentions to go international. more difficult. If you talk to some of When he came back to the company our competitors in the last year or in 1997 he saw all these licensed so, I think they’ll have found it very titles, like Cosmopolitan, and decided difficult being a ‘generalist’. If you’re to set up a separate licensing a car fan, or a gadget fan, then that’s division: and we’re doing very nicely, what you want to read about. What thank you. I think we have about you might leave behind is the more 130 licences around the world. generalist stuff and also the more general titles are more cyclical. The UK is a pretty mature market There are hi-fi fans throughout when it comes to the media: you’ve most generations, whereas when got your big established players. you look at the lads mags, they have So where were we going to go for gone on a pretty difficult journey. growth? Well, we could see that Specialisation, I think, is key.” several countries were opening up. India was opening up, China was about to open up and obviously places like America and Australia were open for business.

12 Private Business From an employee perspective, the company clearly believes in being a meritocracy where those with talent will rise to the top. Do you feel that events such as your annual employee awards help to inspire and engage your staff? “I think it’s a lot of things that help to motivate staff. I don’t think that you can pinpoint one particular thing. For some people it will be the magazine – they are car enthusiasts and if you cut open their veins a whole lot of little cars will come charging out rather than blood. There are other people who are extremely wedded to the public sector, or people with a passion for horticulture. So, passion and connection to the brand is probably the key motivator.

I think, for some people, the work we do with charity is another Being an independent voice in We were interested to know why motivator. For other people it will the media world is increasingly you chose India, in particular, as be the environment and what we’ve unusual. Do you feel that a market. done in terms of making our Haymarket’s independence is building more sustainable and “It chose us, to be honest. Our one of its main strengths? reducing our carbon footprint and business partner met our former the water we use. I think being a “Absolutely. It’s not our biggest chief executive at a motor show and private company, I hope, helps. strength – I think that’s our staff and said he wanted to publish Autocar. Everyone has access to me – my our brand – but it’s great to be able There was a little competition door is always open and I walk to ring up your bank manager and between us and a German around the office a lot. I think I’m say ‘Can I see you next week? We magazine, and he said that he pretty accessible and I encourage would like to invest overseas’ and wanted to a deal with us today! all the other managers to be for him to say ‘That’s fine.’ We don’t So we signed a deal and worked accessible as well. We all started have to go to six or seven bankers on a consultancy basis together, here quite young. I’m 43 and my and explain ourselves and say ‘I starting off with a licence. chief executive is 46, so we still want to be in India and I’m going to have a lot of drive. We’ve only just make a loss over seven years’. I’m The intention was, once the market started: I’ve only been in the gig perfectly comfortable with losing a in India opened up, that we would for nine months!” million quid in the first year and follow them with a joint venture. then a couple of hundred thousand India now has Autocar, What Car, over the next couple of years. Stuff, What Hi-fi, Campaign, Over the past decade, Haymarket Because, actually, I’m merely a PrintWeek and AutoCar Professional. has greatly expanded the web-based guardian for the next generation. We work with our business partner side of the business. Do you see this It’s a long-term investment and and we have an English manager growth continuing and how does he everyone buys into it for a long-term out there who runs the business-to- feel about the idea of ‘pay-to-view’ investment because the positives business side, but ideally I want to content in the manner which titles outweigh the negatives.” have Indian managers.” like The Times have implemented it? “I’m a subscriber to The Times, so I declare that. Like a lot of people in the media, you have to see what you get and how it works. The biggest question is ‘Is the web here to stay?’. And the answer is yes. The web is

November 2010 13 here to stay, there is no doubt about bound directory in 1957 and now I don’t see print dying out: I see it it. The web is going to get more and we’re working in a huge variety of doing a different job at a different more crowded; there are going to be areas. We’ve constantly evolved and frequency. Not every business more and more individuals running the web will just make us evolve person will want another new bit of businesses on the internet and there faster. The majority of our money kit. They might get kit fatigue. will be more and more voices out still comes from magazines, but the They’re talking about tablet PCs there. So, our job as media owners is web is coming up hard on its heels. which would have a phone and to bring order where there is chatter. We don’t see ourselves as a cameras built in, so you could be Who do you follow? Who do you technology company; we see reading a magazine and then a face read? Who do you listen to? I, ourselves as an editorial company pops up and says ‘Hi, Dad!’. Not frankly, don’t have time to read and our job is to deliver that everyone will want that. every blog and watch every editorial through the correct interview, so I want to find channels to the correct person People will pay for content. People somewhere that will give me what I at the right time of day.” do pay for our content now in paper need. And I think that’s the role of format. What we’ve got to stop media players like ourselves. doing is giving it all away for free. Has the introduction of devices such Some of it will be free – news is as the iPhone, iPad, Kindle and other I think there’s a huge issue of trust. probably the main thing that will be eBook readers changed the way you Who do you trust? An individual? free – but it will be the analysis, the think about your hard copy and Or a group of people who have been hardcore data that helps you do your web-based titles? Is print, as a doing a job for 20 or 30 years and job better that I suspect people will medium, on the way out? who are experts? I think mobile have to pay for.” devices are obviously the next big “Things like the iPad are amazing thing. I have an iPad, I have an and they are a fantastic business Does Haymarket carry out a lot of iPhone, I have a Blackberry: I have tool. They could be a game changer market research to find what their every piece of different kit and and then we’ll have to produce the customers want from their every one I use in a slightly different right apps; and when I say apps I publications? way. So it complicates the issue don’t necessarily mean magazines. for publishers. It might look really different on an “More and more. The difficulty is app, but it’s the same thing. A – and this is where the skill of the But the media has always evolved: magazine is just a name for a editor comes in – that every single it’s never stopped evolving. physical product, so it would just person wants something that is Haymarket started with a hardback, mean repackaging and redelivering slightly different. So, you’ve got to that editorial content.

14 Private Business for a number of years in a row. We want to get local offices All our paper is from Forest doing something for their local Stewardship Council (FSC) community. There are lots of approved forests. We talk to fantastic opportunities out there.” our suppliers and their carbon footprint and what they are doing You’ve been in the publishing to reduce it. Obviously, we are in business for over 20 years now, the environmental publishing 16 of these with Haymarket. How sector as well. We do have very do you see the future of the sector strong ethics – we encourage over the next 10 years? Will people to ride bicycles and join companies be able to react and the ride-to-work scheme. adapt to the changes ahead? We have gone down to the minutiae “Do I know where my sector will of each of our magazines having its be in 10 years time? No. If I look own carbon footprint. So I think back 10 years, it was the time of we’ve done everything we can. the dot.com bubble and we were It came from our staff, from staff all rubbing our hands and thinking surveys, that they were very keen to ‘woo hoo!’ and then the next year, do something about sustainability. bang, the whole thing collapses. find that common denominator and And of course, if your business That hurt a lot of people very badly: you’ve also got to present that doesn’t do something about it, then there weren’t many survivors. information in such a way that the Government is going to come Ten years ago, Google had just actually it does achieve the majority along and sting you quite hard. been created; there was no of people’s needs. Also, as a family company, one Facebook; there was no Bing; that believes in nurturing, it’s a Yahoo was around. So, it was When you sit down and start very important part of our ethics. a whole different world. reading a newspaper, or even a Reducing our impact on the magazine, you don’t know what environment is extremely The thing that will affect the sector you’re about to discover. You open it important.” will be technology and the speed up and you’re going to read a story, and access to the internet. Those are and then another story and another the two things that will affect our story. If you look at the average user Corporate social responsibility business far greater than anything time on a particular website, or the is a key focus for today’s large else. Are we ready? I hope so. I number of pages that somebody will companies. With such a wide global believe we are because we’re actually read, it’s far less than with a presence, how has Haymarket faced evolving and changing our business magazine. The engagement is far the challenge of interacting and models. Or it may just be that higher with a magazine.” supporting local communities? everything will just find its natural “When I became chairman in order. It’s changing every day!” Even with the expansion of online January the terrible disaster in Haiti content, publishing companies came along. Sadly we’ve had two clearly still have quite considerable massive disasters this year in Haiti carbon footprints associated with and Pakistan, both of which we’ve the print side of the businesses. How contributed funding towards. What has Haymarket tackled the issues of I want to do is form some kind of sustainability? foundation which staff can contribute to and where we can “Impressively, I think is the answer contribute to the projects and be a – we were the first gold standard in bit more focused on what we do. Richmond with our new office; Some of this would be overseas, we’re part of the Green 500 in some of it would be in the UK. London; we’ve won industry awards

November 2010 15 This publication has been prepared for general guidance on matters of interest only, and does not constitute professional advice. You should not act upon the information contained in this publication without obtaining specifi c professional advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this publication, and, to the extent permitted by law, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, its members, employees and agents do not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences of you or anyone else acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this publication or for any decision based on it.

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