Jim Mullen To Succeed Simon Fox As Reach Chief Executive

Simon Fox is to step down from his position as chief executive of Reach on 16 August to be succeeded by Jim Mullen, the publisher has announced.

Jim was most recently chief executive of Ladbroke Coral plc. His previous roles include director of product management and director of digital strategy at News International, and eleven years in the advertising industry. 

In its half-yearly financial report, Reach pointed to growth in digital traffic and revenues, but said that its  digital audience continued to be “negatively impacted” by changes in algorithms undertaken by Facebook and Google early in 2018.

Digital revenue increased by 9.7 per cent, driven by page view growth with revenue growth accelerating from 5.6 per cent in the first quarter to 13.6 per cent in the second quarter. Average monthly page views in 2019 growing by 16 per cent year on year to 1.2 billion.

Nick Prettejohn, chairman of Reach, said: “I would like to thank Simon for the great job he has done over the past seven years. As the first half results demonstrate, he leaves Reach in very good health, with a strong balance sheet and real progress in developing the business for the future. We have an excellent successor in Jim and I am pleased to have a seamless transition.”

Simon Fox said: “There is never an ideal time to leave an organisation, but if there were it would be now. The integration of the Express and Star has been successfully completed, digital growth is accelerating and our trading and cash position are strong. I am proud of what has been achieved and will provide Jim with whatever support is required to ensure a smooth handover.”

Jim Mullen said: “I am delighted to be joining Reach at such an exciting time and look forward to building upon its digital transformation.”