John Brown Group picks planning chief
Magazine publisher the John Brown Group has appointed WWAV Rapp Collins planning partner Caitriona Henry to 
the new role of chief strategic officer. She will advise the senior management team on the future direction and growth strategy of the company.
Henry, who joins the John Brown group on February 18, will report to chief executive Andrew Hirsch. She will head the planning team for all three businesses operating within the group – John Brown, Code and Fingal.
The publishing house acquired specialist catalogue publisher Code London in 2006. The deal was hailed as the company’s first significant acquisition since 2003, when it bought children’s publisher Act-Two (MW June 15, 2006). Act-Two has since been rebranded John Brown Junior.
John Brown acquired Fingal, the integrated creative communications agency, as a standalone business last year (MW April 12, 2007).
Hirsch says: “Hiring Henry is a real coup and shows how serious we are about putting strategic planning and customer insight at the heart of our business.”
Last year was a tough one for John Brown. It lost the contract to produce Sky The Magazine, after it was moved to Sky sister company, News Magazines. However, it later won the Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s retail banking magazine contract, which is the UK’s biggest customer publishing account.
