Andy Williams – Chief Revenue Officer, DC Thomson

Q1: It’s been a busy year, what have been some of the highlights from your business in 2024? 

It is very difficult to pick out individual highlights because there have been so many. Our incredible portfolio of brands and the teams who support them are collectively building deeper, direct to customer relationships and expanding subscription, membership, and event offerings.

But in terms of some new things in 2024; the bunkered team hosting the podcast live from The Open, the launch of the Puzzler app bringing a best-in-class puzzles experience to a growing audience and, as well as touring the UK with Britain’s Funniest Class, Beano who have been bringing laughter and mischief to the streets of London at the Lord Mayor’s Show.  

If we ever needed a reminder of the powerful impact that magazines can have on our audiences and communities, the reaction to the return of Jackie, with a new bookazine to celebrate its launch sixty years ago, shows not only the cultural phenomenon it created, but also the enduring legacy of this iconic title.

Q2: What are some of the standout commercial partnerships from this year?

Again, very tough to pick a few as our teams have worked across some outstanding partnerships throughout the year, some of which I mentioned in my piece for the PPA newsletter earlier this year – another 2024 highlight for me!

Stylist Live is always a standout event in our calendar and 2024 was no exception with attendances and ticket revenues up considerably year on year. Over 100 retailers including many new brands joined our biggest audience yet for three days of speakers across the main stage and the Work Life with Google stage as well as book signings and catwalk shows.

And a non-commercial initiative that means a lot to all of us is The Multibank’s Christmas Campaign led by Gordon Brown to tackle hygiene poverty. The Northwood Charitable Trust, set up by the Thomson family trust, is a founding partner of The Multibank and over the last month, a number of DC Thomson titles have been sharing content and coverage promoting the campaign and highlighting the support that The Mulitbank provides to local communities.

Q3: What are your top priorities for 2025?

Learning is a top priority for me in 2025, both my own as well as supporting colleagues across the business. This year we launched GROW @ DC Thomson, our new approach to development as we create a learning and growth culture together. Our DC Thomson Academy hosted its first event: Developing a Learning Mindset. After the session, along with other members of our leadership team, I hosted a follow up discussion with colleagues on how we could apply the key learnings to our approach.

This learning journey will continue into 2025 as we all look at how we can better utilise AI, data, and insights to deliver even stronger results and impact for our advertisers and commercial partners.  

Q4: What are you most looking forward to over the festive break? 

We will have colleagues working across some parts of the holidays, so a huge thanks is extended to them for ensuring we continue to connect with our audiences during a busy time for our brands and titles.

Like everyone else I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with friends and family. My Christmas guilty pleasure is watching World’s Strongest Man whilst eating Quality Street and wondering if I could pull a truck with my teeth!