HEAD OF FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL STRATEGY LEAVES

IPC Media have announced the appointment of Julian Drinkall as Group Strategy Director who moves from the BBC where he was latterly Head of Financial and Commercial Strategy.
Drinkall will join the Board of IPC Media and report to Chief Executive Sly Bailey.
Working as part of the senior management team, he will be responsible for developing the IPC strategy and identifying new opportunities to further extend IPC’s media interests beyond its ink-on-paper base, instigating appropriate partnerships, alliances and acquisitions.
Bailey said: “This is a significant hiring for IPC. Having announced a new strategy for growth and development, plus a new identity for the Company last year, it is now our intention to leverage still further our market-leading brands and their relationships with their consumers and advertisers. Julian will play a critical part in the evolution of IPC from a magazines to a media business.”
Julian joins IPC Media late Spring and will head up the existing strategy team, as well as take Board responsibility for the Company’s latest venture, IPC LIVE, which is set to drive revenues through the highly-lucrative events and exhibitions medium.
Drinkall said: “This is an exciting opportunity to join a business with such a clearly-defined agenda. IPC has fantastically powerful brands and there are a plethora of opportunities available to them. The Company’s broader media positioning is entirely consistent with my strengths and experience to-date, and I am looking forward to joining a team who are committed to developing and driving a successful business for the future.”
Julian joined the BBC in September 1998 as head of financial strategy and was responsible for a programme of strategic projects focused on the future of the Corporation. He became head of financial and commercial strategy in April 2000, taking on the additional responsibility of overseeing all of the BBC’s commercial initiatives.
John Smith, BBC finance director, says: “Julian has had three very good years at the BBC, at the heart of our commercial developments. We shall be sorry to see him go, but wish him well.” (CMcL)