Emap unveils major restructuring aimed at global expansion and top-line growth

28 March 2012: Emap International Limited (“Emap”), the multi-platform events, information services and b2b publishing group, has today announced a major restructuring and rebranding exercise.

Three new independent operating companies will be established, each positioned for sustainable top-line growth, with new leadership and separate business strategies.

The large-scale conferences, festivals and exhibitions business will be known as i2i Events Group, the information services business becomes 4C Group, while the name EMAP will be retained by the publishing and associated events business.

The group holding company becomes Top Right Group, to reflect the structural changes and the organisation’s long term growth and high performance aspirations.

The new standalone operating businesses will have the freedom to determine their own strategy and service model, based on the specific needs of their markets. Each will build expansion plans, develop new platforms for customers to access their content and explore other growth opportunities.

A lean corporate unit will provide strategic support to the businesses, offering expertise in reward and talent development, strategic marketing, legal, group communications and M&A. The restructuring will see former central group functions, including IT, HR and Finance, embedded into the companies they serve. This will place people and functions closer to customers, strengthen the business teams and enable a more transparent structure.

Duncan Painter, Chief Executive Officer, Top Right Group, said: “As CEO my priority is to create a structure and culture that encourages growth. We’re devolving responsibility from the centre and will give our new operating companies the freedom to be more independent, agile and single-minded in pursuit of their objectives. They will develop their own distinct strategies, focused on customer need and our strongest brands, with the aim of delivering better services and sustainable top-line growth. From a small centre, the group function will play a background role as a catalyst for change and expansion, particularly internationally.”

The reorganisation will enable i2i Events Group, which currently accounts for 44% of the group’s turnover, to focus on global growth opportunities. Its portfolio includes the World Retail Congress, BETT, Naidex, Spring Fair International, RWM, BVE, Pure London and World Architecture Festival, among others. i2i Events Group also manages Lions Festivals, a brand built on the success of Cannes Lions, the International Festival of Creativity. i2i Events Group is led by Mark Shashoua, who was appointed to run the business in November 2011 and brings extensive international event experience to the group. His immediate focus is on building an international sales team and seeking expansion opportunities in fast-growing overseas markets, particularly China, Latin America and Singapore.

4C Group will be organised into three areas: Design, which will include global trend forecaster WGSN, Retail and Customer Insight, which will include Planet Retail, CAP and Brad; and Infrastructure, which will include Glenigan, Groundsure, IJ, MEED and AMEinfo.com. Information services, which delivers 38% of group turnover, also accounts for a high proportion of non-UK revenues and the business is well-placed to drive further growth internationally. Stephen Wilson, the former global head of Thomson Reuters’ exchange traded instruments business, will be joining to lead 4C Group from 10 April 2012.

Publishing, which accounts for 18% of group turnover, will retain the name its customers trust to deliver market-leading journalism, breaking news and analysis. EMAP will be a standalone publishing and related events business, continuing to produce must-have, high-quality, and specialist content across multiple channels and at celebratory events. Led by Natasha Christie-Miller, EMAP’s management team will be tasked with further developing the brands across a variety of platforms. Brands in the EMAP portfolio include Retail Week, Draper’s, Construction News, Architects’ Journal and Health Service Journal.