- OC&C conducted a review that lasted for more than three months
London-listed publisher Future held a ‘strategic review’ in late 2023 that resulted in management mulling a break-up of the company.
Global consultancy firm OC&C conducted a review that lasted for more than three months and finished in January 2024, a well-placed senior source told The Mail on Sunday.
FTSE 250-listed Future publishes titles such as Country Life, Homes and Gardens, Decanter, FourFourTwo and Marie Claire.
Royal connections: Queen Camilla has featured in Country Life magazine
It also owns insurance comparison website GoCompare.
At the time, chief executive Jon Steinberg had been in the job for a little over six months and was looking for a new strategy for the company amid a sharp drop off in its share price.
Future had thrived under the previous boss, Zillah Byng-Thorne, but had begun to stagnate.
Following the review, OC&C advised that Future be broken up and that Steinberg focus solely on growing the consumer magazine subscription business.
It was suggested that its business-to-business titles, including SmartBrief and GoCompare, be put up for sale as they were labelled ‘non-core’ to the rest of the organisation.
Some titles such as The Week were also flagged for a potential sale.
Review: Future held a ‘strategic review’ in late 2023 that resulted in management mulling a break-up of the company
The source said: ‘The review was taken seriously and there was exploration by the board about selling some businesses that were not aligned. Ultimately, it was decided to keep the company together and solve the issues internally.’
Under Byng-Thorne, the business grew rapidly from 2014 to 2023, acquiring titles and building a solid subscription model. ‘Zillah was excellent at keeping all the plates spinning,’ the source added.
The share price over her period in charge gained an astonishing 3,500 per cent and she was hailed for her ability to drag legacy media brands into the internet age.
The business benefited from the pandemic as readers flocked to its niche websites, helping it to outperform larger media peers.
Future’s share price has languished since 2023 and on Friday it closed down 0.1 per cent at £9.92, giving the company a market capitalisation of £1.1billion.
The former board member continued: ‘There were plenty of shareholders who enjoyed the ride up and made a lot of money, but there will also be those who are still invested and are waiting for Future to turn itself around.’
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