The Evening Standard is evolving rapidly and commercially we are making huge progress with our digital offering as well as relaunching and refreshing the strength of our print products. Combine this with event launches, new advertising formats including BrandStories, and BrandPost, we can safely say it has been a busy period for our brand. Key to this success has been design. Sam Hyde has led, developed, and ensured that our design output is of the highest calibre. Over the last 18 months, Sam has hugely increased the scope of his role, working closely with every department in the business from product development to editorial, sales to events, and is supported by his brilliant team too of course. Leading from the front Sam has put design at the heart of what we do. To reflect on this wider scope and highlight the ambitions we have for design as a key influential part of Studio 27 for our business, we will be giving Sam the title of Commercial Creative Director.

Alongside this, our continued momentum as a digital-first company requires our structure and people to be focused in the right way.

Across the past 18 months, Mark Burborough has been leading the way on the creation of digital opportunities to meet the needs of his agencies. His curiosity around how we can expand on this across all of our customers has been business critical and as such will be now be working as our Head of Digital Trading, which reflects all of the work that he has done.

This role will sit alongside Dougal, Head of Media and Christina Irvine, Head of Magazines and report into Guy Phillips, Chief Revenue Officer. This strengthens our management across the Media Team and provides us with more exciting opportunities.

We are thrilled for both Sam and Mark and excited about the additional focus this will bring.