 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 1907; 118 years ago (1907) (Manchester Guardian) 1993 (1993) (Guardian Media Group plc) |
| Founder | C. P. Scott |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people | Anna Bateson (CEO) Charles Gurassa (chair) |
| Products | Newspapers,websites |
| Revenue |  £264.4 million[1] (2022-23) |
 £-21.3 million[1] (2022-23) | |
| Owner | Scott Trust Limited |
Number of employees | 1,241 (2023)  |
| Divisions | Guardian News & Media Top Right Group (formerly Emap) GMG Property Services Group |
| Website | www |
Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-basedmass media company owning various media operations includingThe Guardian, and formerlyThe Observer. The group is wholly owned by theScott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and editorial independence ofThe Guardian in perpetuity.
The Group's annual report (for the year ending 2 April 2023) indicated that the Scott Trust Endowment Fund was valued at £1.24 billion, while in 2021 it was valued at £1.14 billion.[2]
The company was founded as the Manchester Guardian Ltd. in 1907 whenC.P. Scott boughtThe Manchester Guardian (founded in 1821)[3] from the estate of his cousin Edward Taylor.
It became the Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd when it bought out theManchester Evening News in 1924, later becoming the Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd to reflect the change in the morning paper's title. It adopted its current name in 1993.
In 1991, it had a 20% stake in a consortium which includedLondon Weekend Television (LWT),Scottish Television,The Walt Disney Company andCarlton Communications for a new ITV breakfast franchise calledGMTV.
Guardian Monthly was a glossy magazine published by the Guardian Media Group for readers around the world.[4] Launched in November 2006,[5] it made selections fromThe Guardian andThe Observer's magazine supplements available to an international audience of English-speakers.[6] Issues contained interviews with cultural figures, features about world issues, and regular articles on travel, books, sport, health, fashion, food and photography. In July 2007, the Guardian Media Group announced the cancellation of theGuardian Monthly.[7] In a letter to subscribers, Will Ricketts,Guardian Monthly's publisher, explained the reasons for the cancellation of the monthly magazine:
The company is taking a long-term strategic view of its activities and althoughGuardian Monthly has performed well in the busy and competitive international marketplace, we have decided that it is not the right time to continue with a global magazine offering.
In March 2007, GMG sold 49.9% ofTrader Media Group toApax Partners, in a deal that valued Trader Media Group at £1.35 billion. In December 2007, it was announced that GMG and Apax had made a successful bid to buyEmap's business-to-business arm for around £1 billion.[8]
In February 2010, the group sold its GMG Regional Media division (consisting of two companies MEN Media and S&B Media which operated 31 local and regional newspaper titles) toTrinity Mirror for £44.8 million. The sale eroded the connection betweenThe Guardian and Manchester as the sale of theManchester Evening News was included in the package.[9] The division's local television station for Greater Manchester,Channel M, and two newspapers inWoking were not included in the sale.
In June 2012, GMG sold itsGMG Radio division, which operatedReal Radio andSmooth Radio, toGlobal Radio.[10][11]
In January 2014, GMG disposed of its remaining interest in Trader Media Group.[12]
Carolyn McCall was the chief executive of Guardian Media Group and chair of Guardian News and Media Limited from 2006 until June 2010, when she was appointed chief executive ofEasyJet.[13]Andrew Miller, previously the chief financial officer of the Group, was chief executive from July 2010 to 2015. David Pemsel took his place in 2015.[14]
In October 2017, the Guardian Media Group reported a plan to launch a new £42 million venture capital fund.[15] That plan was consummated, making the Scott Trust a limited partner in GMG Ventures LP. According to the GMG 2018 annual report, "this £42m venture capital fund is designed to contribute financial returns and to support GMG's strategy by investing in early stage businesses focused on developing the next generation of media technology".[2]
In January 2020, it was announced thatAnnette Thomas would become the new chief executive in March 2020.[16] Thomas was formerly editor ofNature, MD ofNature Publishing Group and chief executive ofMacmillan Science and Education. She replacedDavid Pemsel who left to take up a role at thePremier League.[17]
In May 2021,The Daily Telegraph reportedGuardian editorKatharine Viner and Thomas were in conflict over finances and the direction the newspaper should take. The previous yearThe Guardian announced 180 job cuts. Thomas had earlier said at a media industry conference "we have quality content in spades ... the job at hand is to now go further by strengthening the growing elements of our business". Viner wanted renewed investment after better than feared financial results in 2020.[18] On 9 June 2021, it was announced that Thomas would leave the Guardian Media Group at the end of the month.[19][20]
In August 2022, Anna Bateson was appointed as chief executive.[21] Subsequently Anders Jensen, chief executive ofViaplay, resigned as a GMG non-executive director because of the appointment process, in particular the level of influence exerted byGuardian editorKatharine Viner.[22]
In September 2024,The Guardian revealed it was in talks to sellThe Observer to news websiteTortoise Media.[23][24] Journalists at Guardian Media Group voted to condemn the sale and passed a vote of no confidence in the newspaper's owners, accusing it of betrayal amid concerns that the sale of the paper could harm the financial security of staff members.[25][26] The sale took place on 22 April 2025.[27]
GMG's core business is Guardian News & Media Limited, publisher of theguardian.com, andThe Guardian newspaper. Guardian News & Media was formed as Guardian Newspapers Limited in 1967, adopting its present name in 2006.
The group has a portfolio of investments to help support its journalism.[28] They comprise:
Guardian Media Group exists to support the core purpose of its owner, Scott Trust Limited: to secure the financial and editorial independence ofThe Guardian in perpetuity,[29] but in the 2011/12 year the group lost £75.6 million,[30] and for the three years up to June 2012, the paper itself lost £100,000 a day - leadingThe Economist'sIntelligent Life magazine to question whetherThe Guardian could survive.[31] In late 2013, GMG sold their GMG Property Services Group to private equity firmLloyds Development Capital (rebranded to Property Software Group), citing that it would allow them to focus on investing in the core part of their business—Guardian News and Media.[32] In 2014,The Guardian launched a membership scheme, aiming to avoid introducing apaywall and maintaining open access to the website. As of 2018, this approach was considered successful, having brought more than 1 million subscriptions or donations, with the paper hoping to break even by April 2019,[33] a goal they achieved in May 2019.[34]
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