UK - Apax-backed Emap loses senior executive

It has been reported that Bradford has left to pursue other interests in the private equity industry. Chief executive David Gilbertson will take over Bradford's role and is currently reviewing whether to appoint a replacement.

The Data and Insight business is one of four divisions at Emap, providing research and analysis to clients. Bradford was also appointed to head Emap's online fashion site, WSGN.com last year. The site proved one of the best performers in the company's b2b division, generating £35m in 2008.

Bradford's leave, however, could also be related to the performance of the company. Apax has recently written down its investment in Emap to zero. Apax and the Guardian Media Group (GMG) paid more than £1bn for the company less than two years ago.

It is reported that the business, which includes publications such as Retail Week and Broadcast, has seen a downturn in advertising. Despite this, however, Emap is said to be performing relatively well due to some resilience offered by its subscription-biased model, with Apax stating that the mark-to-market writedown does not reflect the intrinsic value of the company.

Gilbertson has attempted to bring costs down for the business with measures including job cuts and cutting the size of all titles to A4. According to reports, Apax has said that it could mark the business back up if markets improve.

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