May 10, 2011

Emap boss David Gilbertson to step down

David Gilbertson is stepping down after three years as chief executive of Emap.

Former journalist Gilbertson was appointed to his current job in March 2008 when the current Emap was created. He was previously chief executive of Informa.

Emap was created in its current form by Guardian Media Group and private equity company Apax when they bought the business to business titles out of the old Emap empire in a £1.2bn deal. Emap now includes titles such as Nursing Times, Retail Week Construction News and Broadcast.

No announcement has yet been made about a successor to Gilbertson.

Irina Hemmers, a partner at Apax Partners, who chairs the board overseeing Emap, said in a statement: ‘David has led Emap with distinction over the last three years. He leaves the business in good shape and well placed for growth. The shareholders are grateful for his contribution and he goes with our best wishes for the future.”

Gilbertson said: ‘It has been my complete privilege to lead Emap for the last three years. It is a first-class business with some of the strongest brands in all B2B. It has proved to be highly resilient through the challenges of recession and is now on target to return to growth this year.

‘Recession has extended the likely period of private equity ownership for the business, making this an opportune moment for new leadership to take the company on to its next phase. I wish Emap, its staff and its shareholders every success as the business continues to progress.”