All,
I am writing to let you know that Andrew Miller will be standing down as chief executive and leaving Guardian Media Group at the end of June.
Andrew has done an outstanding job as chief executive, transforming the financial resources of GMG and safeguarding the long-term future of the Guardian.
Before joining GMG, Andrew was for six years the chief financial officer at Trader Media Group, where he played a leading role in Auto Trader’s enormously successful transition from print to digital publishing. He was appointed chief executive of GMG in July 2010, having joined the Group in 2009 as chief financial officer. Since then, he has led the restructuring of GMG, disposing of non-core assets and transforming GNM, investing in the global operations and repositioning the company as a digitally-focused organisation, underpinned by a healthy cash and investment portfolio. This is a stronger, better and more confident company thanks to Andrew.
The executive team, the GMG Board and The Scott Trust have clearly set out GNM’s direction of travel, and that remains unaffected by Andrew’s decision to step down. That strategy includes prioritising investments to enable the Guardian to become a more global media organisation with greater digital capabilities; investing to transform the UK newsroom and embedding the best digital techniques; restructuring the newspaper business to adapt to the changing market; accelerating our plans for the US and Australia given the clear opportunities and successes to date; extending the Guardian internationally in priority regions; rolling out the membership scheme and developing our commercial strategy around ‘unknown to known’.
As we embark on that next major programme of transformation, the Board was clear that it needed a chief executive who could see the process through. For reasons I entirely respect, Andrew is keen to move on to new challenges and was, as such, unable to give the Board a long-term commitment. This, coupled with the arrival later this year of a new editor-in-chief, is therefore the right time for a new chief executive to take the Guardian through the next stage of its journey. Andrew leaves in place a strong investment strategy, a healthy increase in underlying revenues and an ambitious vision for the Guardian’s future.
We will no doubt have the opportunity to pay our tributes to Andrew in the period before he leaves, but in the meantime the GMG Board would like to thank him for his outstanding achievements and his lasting legacy.
The application process – which will be open to internal and external candidates – will be managed by an executive search firm and overseen by the GMG Board.
Neil
