Marketing chief leaves the Big Issue

Big Issue advertising and marketing director Dermot McPartland is quitting the magazine to pursue other interests.

McPartland, who will leave on March 8 and then plans to travel, will oversee the appointment of a successor.

He joined the Big Issue nearly six years ago, soon after its launch. “I feel my job is done. When I joined it was fortnightly and had a London circulation of 30,000. Now it is national and sells 300,000 copies a week,” he says.

“It is a truly national organisation and it has been improved editorially. The brand is uppermost in people’s minds.”

Earlier this month, Big Issue founder John Bird announced plans to unveil a US version of the magazine. He flew to Los Angeles where he is launching a scheme for the homeless, called Pathway Out of Poverty (POOP), which will include the distribution of the Big Issue.

GGT handles the magazine’s above-the-line advertising. Below the line is handled in-house.