Centaur appoints marketer Andria Vidler as CEO
Centaur Media, publisher of Marketing Week, has appointed former marketer and CEO of EMI UK Andria Vidler as its chief executive.
Vidler will join on 4 November and replace Mark Kerswell who has been interim CEO since May. Kerswell will revert to his previous role as group finance director.
A former Marketing Week cover star, Vidler left EMI in July after four years as CEO of its UK and Irish divisions following the sale of a large chunk of its business to Warner Music Group. She is credited with driving digital revenue growth at EMI.
Prior to EMI, she spent four years as chief marketing officer at Bauer Media overseeing marketing strategy for radio and magazine brands such as Magic and Q and held several senior marketing and management positions at the BBC and Capital Radio.
Centaur chairman Patrick Taylor says of her appointment: “She also has substantial expertise in transforming and growing established brands that are being challenged by pressures of the digital age.”
Confirmation of her hire comes in the same week it emerged former chief executive Geoff Wilmot had withdrawn his bid to buy Centaur over a disagreement about the company’s valuation. A statement to the stock exchange said: “The board of Centaur’s views on the value of the Company materially diverge from those of Mr Wilmot and his potential financing partners.”
Centaur, which also publishes The Lawyer, Design Week, Money Marketing and Creative Review, recently announced revenue grew 10 per cent in the 12 months to 30 June. A write-down of the value of its publishing business, however, pushed profit down 38.4 per cent.
