Trinity Mirror poaches IPC Media chief Bailey

IPC Media chief executive Sly Bailey has been poached by Trinity Mirror. On February 3, she will become the newspaper group’s new chief executive, replacing Philip Graf, who announced recently that he would be leaving next summer.

The announcement is understood to have come as a surprise to senior staff at IPC, where Bailey has been chief executive for the past three years. She led the publishing company through its £1.15bn takeover by AOL Time Warner in July last year. The move was the largest transatlantic media deal to date.

IPC will announce Bailey’s successor early next year. In the meantime, IPC’s board will report to Time Inc International president Michael Pepé. Earlier this month, IPC Ignite! managing director Mike Soutar was elevated to the board, with the new position of editorial director for the entire business. Group marketing director Philippa Brown was also promoted to the board.

It is understood that Bailey’s brief at Trinity Mirror will be to reverse falling sales and profits at flagship title the Daily Mirror. The newspaper’s sales rose by two per cent, month on month, in November, boosted by the revelations of Paul Burrell, the royal butler accused of stealing items from Princess Diana. However, sales were down four per cent year on year. In July, Trinity Mirror reported a three per cent year-on-year fall in first-half profits, to £78.4m.

Trinity Mirror was formed in 1999, following the merger of the Mirror group with regional publisher Trinity. US fund manager Tweed Brown, which holds 5.6 per cent of Trinity Mirror, earlier this year called for the company to be broken up.