Bonhill Group plc, a leading B2B media business, announced Wednesday that Patrick Ponsford was appointed Group CEO following a period serving as interim CEO, and that John French was named CEO of the company’s InvestmentNews subsidiary. Both will join Bonhill’s board of directors.
Ponsford has worked in B2B publishing for the past 30 years, including three years at Last Word Media prior to its acquisition by Bonhill in April 2020, in addition to stints at Strategic Insight Research and Centaur PLC.
“I am excited by the opportunity to lead the Group. The new financial services focused business that will emerge after completion of the BSG divestiture will be less complex and capital intensive and with higher margin,” Ponsford said. “I believe that shareholders should see significantly enhanced returns over the next 18 months once the divestiture of BSG is complete.”
French, who has been executive chairman of InvestmentNews since October 2021, as CEO will report to Ponsford and serve as an executive director on Bonhill’s board, dropping his dual role of U.S. executive chairman. French was previously CEO of Penton Media and Cygnus Business Media, and president of Primedia and Prism Publishing.
“I have enjoyed the privilege of being the executive chairman of InvestmentNews over the past six months and look forward to building on the tremendous accomplishments we have already made in that short time,” French said. “InvestmentNews has long established itself as one of the finest brands in the financial services industry with a team of journalists second to none. I believe our best days are yet to come both at Bonhill and InvestmentNews.”
Concurrently, Jonathan Glasspool, who has been serving as interim executive chairman since April 2022, will revert to non-executive chairman.
“The Board is pleased to have such seasoned executives as Patrick and John running our two divisions. They bring complementary skills and knowledge of the global marketplace. We remain optimistic about the considerable opportunities available to us as a focused B2B media company within a vibrant global niche,” Glasspool said.
Bonhill Group (AIM: BONH) is a B2B media company whose brands include InvestmentNews, ESG Clarity, Portfolio Adviser, Fund Selector Asia, What Investment, SmallBusiness.co.uk, GrowthBusiness.co.uk, Information Age, the Women in… events series and DiversityQ.
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