Nicola Bates – Chief Commercial Officer, Bauer UK Publishing

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

I’m yet to reach my first anniversary as Chief Commercial Officer, but it’s been such a busy year so far. We kicked things off by unveiling new UK and Global Digital leadership teams to support our long-term growth plans and built on the momentum this brought.  This included helping our editorial and commercial teams to work more collaboratively across specialisms to make sure our readers and partners benefit from the best of our expertise.

As result, we continued to innovate with exciting new products such as the launch of Grazia’s new bible for Beauty lovers  and popular new online content formats like heat’s Drag Bags.
We also pushed to prove the enduring impact that our industry has on readers through a unique piece of Automotive research in partnership with Sophus3, Autovia and Carwow.

And on the theme of collaboration we gave our teams, new inspiring spaces to work in that are fit for the future. Our Peterborough office underwent a full refurbishment and the official opening of our swanky new London headquarters at The Lantern not only brought us closer together with our colleagues and brands in Audio business but also welcomed the Secretary of State for Culture.

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

We’ve carried some fabulous partnerships this year, but the three that stand outs are…

M&M’s and Empire created an impactful partnership at the beginning of the year to introduce the famous chocolate brand’s annual short film festival. The partnership was a 360-success spanning a live tour of the Empire Film podcast, online Q&A’s with budding film makers and a hugely impactful DPS in mag.

This year has been a difficult year for many, with the cost-of-living crisis reaching an all-time high. With that in mind, we partnered with Smart Energy to offer our readers trusted advice and tips on how to keep their energy consumption and costs as low as possible.

Finally, Grazia & eBay came together to promote eBay’s preloved fashion offering to inspire our readers to embrace sustainable fashion, empowering them to look fabulous while making a positive impact on the planet. 

Q3: What are your top priorities for 2025?

We’re focused on keeping the momentum that we built in 2024 growth going into 2025.  We’re enjoying double digit growth across our digital platforms and our B2B portfolio.  We’re also targeting more creative partnerships wins, both within the publishing business but also collaboratively with our audio business. 
We also want to make sure our teams are as confident as they can be taking our solutions to market, so we have a comprehensive training plan that spans the next 12-18 months, including utilising our unique Bauer Academy training resources. 

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

Christmas is one of the only holidays when everyone is off at the same time and this really gives us all the chance to properly switch off and recharge the batteries.  I’m particularly looking forward to lots of beach walks with the dogs to walk off way too much Christmas indulgence!