Cremer: ‘huge creative flair’
New Woman editor Sara Cremer surprised staff this week by announcing that she is stepping down to move to special projects.
Cremer is to take up the new role of executive editor, special projects, at Emap Elan. She is expected to work closely with Emap’s French division, working as a consultant and looking at potential launches in its women’s portfolio as well as in the UK.
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Emap France publishes 44 titles across the women’s, men’s, TV listings, automotive and special interest sectors.
The move could lead to the launch of one of the French titles in the UK, driven by Cremer’s expertise.
An Emap spokeswoman said new projects were “ongoing” this week despite reports that the concept for a women’s glossy being developed by former Elle editor Fiona McIntosh and Nicola Jeal had been put on hold.
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Staff were informed of Cremer’s departure in an internal e-mail from former New Woman editor and current managing director of Emap Elan, Dawn Bebe, in which she said Cremer would be missed for her “calm leadership” and “huge creative flair”.
Cremer began her career on FHM before joining Men’s Health, where she moved up to become deputy editor and managing editor.
She joined New Woman in 1999 as deputy editor and became editor when Jo Elvin quit to launch Glamour in 2000.
Cremer oversaw a redesign in the face of competition from low-price titles such as Glamour and Company.
New Woman came under even greater pressure to succeed after Emap lost control of its other high-profile women’s glossies, Red and Elle, to Hachette Filipacchi. It reported a 5.4 per cent period-on-period increase to 290,533 in the latest ABCs but fell 1.4 per cent year-on-year.
Cremer is due to leave New Woman at the end of this month. Deputy editor Claire Baylis will be acting editor until a replacement is found.
Emap is understood to have received several bids for The Face. Emap is believed to be seeking a swift resolution so a new owner could be revealed as early as next month.
By Ruth Addicott
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