Also as part of the restructure at Seven West, Nick Chan, Chief Financial Officer at Seven is leaving the company. Nick was CEO of Pacific Magazines for many years where we oversaw the development of a strong portfolio of titles.
As CEO, Nick was a champion of newsagents, committing considerable resources to help our channel compete in a more diverse marketplace.
I was fortunate to meet Nick several times and while many newsagents would not know him, he was important to our channel.
Publishing experience is important in the magazine business and each time any publisher loses someone with good publishing experience, like Vicki Rossi and Nick Chan, the businesses loses valuable experience.
Indeed specialist business experience is important in any business. You only have to look at the damage in some publishing businesses when they replace category experts with FMCG people.
I’m sorry to see Nick go and whish him all the best for the future.
Newsagents need to look at the moves at Seven West and consider their own businesses. We are in an economy where efficiency is vital. Doing more with less is the rule of the day. Even though we do not have the obligation of publicly traded shares that Seven West has, our focus on operating costs ought to be as focussed.