FHM publisher moves East to set up EMAP Singapore
Marcus Rich, publisher of leading men’s magazine FHM, has left the UK to set up an EMAP office in Singapore.
His departure comes just five months after the editor Mike Soutar left for Kiss 100 FM, and just as the magazine’s circulation looks poised to break the 500,000 mark in ABC figures due out next week.
Under Rich and Soutar’s guidance, FHM, bought by EMAP Metro over three years ago, has risen from obscurity to become the best-selling men’s magazine in an increasingly competitive market.
According to the latest National Readership Survey’s six-month figures, released at the end of the week, FHM’s readership is 1,864,000, topping the leading women’s magazine Cosmopolitan by nearly 200,000.
An EMAP Metro spokeswoman confirmed Rich’s departure and says he will be investigating opportunities for EMAP titles in Singapore and Asia.
EMAP Metro has been looking at expanding its men’s portfolio with the launch of a monthly targeted at an older age group, to compete with GQ, Esquire and Maxim.
