The chief executive of Bath-based media group Future, Mark Wood, is to step down from the role to become a non-executive director and will be replaced by its group chief financial officer Zillah Byng-Maddick.
The changes, announced today, take effect from April 1. Ms Byng-Maddick will be replaced by interim chief financial officer Simon Poulton, who will not join the board.
Ms Byng-Maddick, pictured, a former chief executive at Trader Media Group – owner of AutoTrader – joined Future last October. She has also held finance roles at GE Capital and Fitness First and is a non-executive director at Betfair and Mecom Group. 
Mark Wood said: “Zillah has made a tremendous impact since she joined Future. She was brought in for her experience in both digital transformation and organisational structuring and has precisely the skills needed to lead the company through the next phase of its evolution.”
Zillah added: “Future is an excellent business going through fast transition thanks to Mark’s leadership. We have considerable momentum and market-leading content that has high impact with a global audience. I look forward to leading the business through the next phase of its evolution.”
Mark was appointed group CEO at Future in 2011. During his time in charge the company has become a digital leader in the UK – it now draws 60mi unique users to its websites each month and has a 23% market share in audited digital magazines sold on tablets.
The company’s overall digital revenues grew 33% last year. During his tenure, Future became unique in being named Digital Consumer Publisher of the Year by the AOP and the PPA, as well as Media Company of the Year at the British Media Awards.
However, its share price collapsed by more than 30% earlier this month as it warned shareholders to expect profits “significantly below” market expectations for the second time since the start of the year.
Mark Wood added today: “We have come a long way in the last three years but recent trading results underline that there is still much to be done. I will still be involved in the business and will give Zillah all the support I can. But the change in role also allows me to follow up some interesting recent approaches.”
Future’s best-known brands include T3, Cycling Plus, Total Film, Mollie Makes and Xbox: The Official Magazine.
