Axe falls on Beeb.com man in rejig

BBC Worldwide’s restructure has resulted in the departure of Jeremy Mayhew, the man responsible for establishing e-tail portal Beeb.com.

Mayhew, director of new ventures and strategy, left the BBC’s commercial arm earlier this week after it became clear that there was no place for him in the new structure.

Responsibility for new ventures and strategy has been transferred to the operating and finance divisions.

As director of new media between 1995 and 1999, Mayhew launched BBC Worldwide’s Internet and multimedia publishing businesses.

Among the ventures was Beeb.com, which went live in 1997. Initially focused on some of BBC Worldwide’s top brands, including Good Homes and Gardener’s World, it provided entertaining content with banner advertising as its main revenue stream. The site has since had a major redesign and has focused more on e-commerce, in an effort to establish itself as an online shopping brand with consumers.

BBC Worldwide has also promoted Jane Gorard to marketing director for BBC World, the 24-hour, English language, international news and information channel. In May this year, she joined BBC World as head of marketing communications from the communications consultancy Abel Hadden & Company. The channel reaches 178 million homes in 200 countries and territories worldwide.