London, 18 September 2015: The Scott Trust, shareholder of the Guardian Media Group, has today announced the appointment of seven new board members.
The following board members will join the Trust with immediate effect:
- Catherine Howarth, chief executive of Share Action
- Stuart Proffitt, a publishing director of Penguin Press
- Vivian Schiller, an independent journalism, media and technology advisor
- Ole Jacob Sunde, founder and chair of Formuesforvaltning AS private bank and chair of Scandinavian media company Schibsted ASA
- Dr Sushil Wadhwani CBE, CEO of Wadhwani Asset Management LLP
- David Pemsel, recently-appointed CEO of Guardian Media Group
Russell Scott, head of content at The Football League and a member of the Scott family, will succeed Jonathan Scott as the family representative on the board.
Since it was formed in 1936, The Scott Trust’s core purpose has been to secure the financial and editorial independence in perpetuity of the Guardian, of which it is the owner. The Trust’s unique ownership structure ensures a long-term, commercially sustainable future for Guardian journalism.
Dame Liz Forgan, chair of The Scott Trust, said: “We are delighted to welcome such a diverse and talented group of individuals to The Scott Trust board. They bring with them a huge amount of experience across media as well as the business and financial sectors, which will help us shape the future of the Guardian in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving media world.”
Liz Forgan will be stepping down as chair of The Scott Trust in September 2016 and will be succeeded by former Guardian News & Media editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger. Andrew Graham, Will Hutton and Jonathan Scott will also be stepping down from the board in the coming year, ensuring a gradual handover with the newly-appointed board members. Andrew Miller, the previous chief executive officer of Guardian Media Group, stood down from the board in June 2015.
The current Scott Trust board members are: Dame Liz Forgan, Katharine Viner, Emily Bell, Alex Graham, Andrew Graham, Will Hutton, Alan Rusbridger, Sir Anthony Salz, Jonathan Scott and Heather Stewart.
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About The Scott Trust Ltd
The ultimate owner of the Guardian is The Scott Trust, which was originally created as a trust in 1936 to safeguard the title’s journalistic freedom. In 2008 it was replaced by a limited company with the same core purpose of the original trust: to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity, while its subsidiary aims are to champion its principles and to promote freedom of the press in the UK and elsewhere. Other than to cover expense, The Scott Trust takes no dividend from the Group’s businesses, whose profits are instead reinvested to sustain journalism that is free from commercial or political interference.
The Trust Board is chaired by Dame Liz Forgan and currently consists of executives within GMG, external members, a member of the Scott family and a member of Guardian News & Media’s editorial staff.
About GMG
Guardian Media Group (GMG) is one of the UK’s leading media organisations. Its core business is Guardian News & Media (GNM), publisher of theguardian.com which, with over 130 million unique browsers a month, is one of the largest English-speaking quality newspaper websites in the world. In the UK, GNM publishes the Guardian newspaper six days a week and the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, The Observer.
GMG’s investments provide financial security and support for our journalism. The portfolio includes interests in Top Right Group, the B2B publishing, events and information business; Seven Publishing, an award-winning content marketing agency; and Decoded, the code and data education and digital transformation company. GMG has also built a cash and investment fund of over £800 million, which includes the proceeds from the 2014 disposal of its 50.1% holding in Trader Media Group. GMG delivers the financial security that allows The Scott Trust to achieve its central objective: the editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity. The business conduct of the Group is guided by The Scott Trust values.
For further information visit www.theguardian.com/gmg.
About the new board members
Catherine Howarth is chief executive of Share Action, an award-winning charity that has established a new brand of social activism in capital markets. Previously she was founder and lead organiser of West London Citizens. In 2014 she was also elected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.
David Pemsel is chief executive officer of Guardian Media Group, a role he has held since July 2015. David joined Guardian News & Media (GNM) in 2011 as chief marketing officer, before being appointed chief commercial officer in 2012. A year later David assumed the newly-created role of deputy chief executive, taking on increased accountability for the GNM business. He was previously Marketing Director of ITV, and in 2000 launched Shine Entertainment. He is a fellow of the Marketing Society, council member of the Marketing Group of Great Britain and a Voting Member of BAFTA.
Stuart Proffitt is a publishing director at Penguin Press, a role he has held since 1998; before that he was for six years publisher of the trade division at HarperCollins. He is chair of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction. In November 2011 he was awarded the London Library/Christie’s ‘Life in Literature’ prize.
Vivian Schiller is an independent journalism, media and technology advisor with over 20 years experience across the sector. Previously she has held multiple high-profile media roles including head of news at Twitter, general manager of NYtimes.com and president and CEO of NPR.
Russell Scott is currently head of content at The Football League. He was previously commercial director of digital at Local World Media.
Ole Jacob Sunde, is the founder and chair of Formuesforvaltning AS private bank and chair of Scandinavian media company Schibsted ASA. He is also chairman of the Tinius Trust and a board member of both the HRH Princess Märtha Louise’s Trust and the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo.
Dr Sushil Wadhwani CBE is currently CEO of Wadhwani Asset Management LLP and partner of Caxton Associates. He was a full-time external member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England between June 1999 and May 2002. He is also currently a visiting professor at the London School of Economics and a governor of the National Institute of Economic & Social Research.
