Former Trader Media Group CFO joins Future

BATH-BASED publishing group Future has replaced its chief financial officer, Graham Harding, who is leaving the company after its preliminary results next month.

Harding, who joined Future in 2000 and has been group CFO since 2011, is leaving to “pursue other career opportunities”, the company said in an announcement to the stock exchange.

He will be replaced by Zillah Byng-Maddick, CFO at Trader Media Group, which publishes brands including Auto Trader, from 2009 to 2012 and interim CEO from 2012 to 2013.
Byng-Maddick, who formally takes over as CFO on 18 November, joins the company in the midst of a restructuring drive.

In September, the magazine publisher said 55 roles were likely to be made redundant, as part a cost cutting programme.

The company said in its July interim management statement that it “was not satisfied” with the pace of improvement after trading for the three months to June was “below expectation”.

As a result, the company said it would accelerate its cost cutting programme to save up to £2.5m in the coming year. The programme will continue until the cost base, still geared primarily to print, is better aligned with the changing business.

Mark Wood, Future CEO, said: “Zillah has an outstanding reputation and her experience of leading a successful and rapid transition from print to digital at Trader Media Group is of enormous value to us at this time. She will help transform Future, accelerating the pace of change, which is key to us building a more profitable digital business.”

Byng-Maddick is a non-executive director at Betfair and Mecom Group.