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Sean Cornwell Appointed CEO of Immediate

Tuesday 16 May, 2023

Immediate Media Co has announced the appointment of Sean Cornwell as its new CEO and Tom Bureau as Chairman.

Immediate own and publish some of the UK’s biggest multi-platform brands, including Radio Times and BBC Good Food, reaching more than 60m consumers a month through print, digital, audio and live events.

Cornwell joined Immediate in 2021 as Platforms CEO, with responsibility for Immediate’s digital businesses; including its market-leading gardening and food brands, award-winning podcast portfolio and Immediate’s Product & Tech, Audience Development, eCommerce and Affiliates teams.

Sean has overseen the scaled growth of Immediate’s digital subscriptions business, with the launch of premium paid-for digital products in Food, History and Gardening, and the acquisition of Nutracheck, the UK’s leading subscription-based weight management and dietary improvement platform. Immediate now has over 500,000 digital subscribers and is the UK’s leading media publisher for subscriptions with more than 1.4m subscribers across digital and print.

With over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership positions, Sean’s previous roles include CEO of Direct Ferries, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer of Travelex and MD International at eHarmony, as well as other senior general management and marketing roles at Google and various start-ups.

Immediate’s founding CEO, Tom Bureau, takes up the role of Chairman of Immediate, in addition to his role as CEO of Burda International, the international arm of Immediate’s parent company, Hubert Burda Media.

“I’m incredibly proud and excited to be appointed the new CEO of Immediate. It’s a real privilege to work with such powerful and trusted brands which really matter to our customers. But above all, I’m really proud to work with the people that make up Immediate, their talent, creativity and dedication has driven the success we’ve had over the last decade, and I’m really looking forward to working with them as we continue to grow and develop the business further.”

Sean Cornwell, CEO of Immediate

A man with short hair smiles while standing outdoors in front of leafy trees and a building. He is wearing a light-colored, striped button-up shirt. The photo is in black and white.

Tom Bureau adds: “Having worked closely with Sean for the last two years, I know he shares the values which have made Immediate such a great company and I’m confident Immediate will continue to grow and develop under his leadership. I’m immensely proud of the success we’ve achieved since Immediate was launched in 2011, we’ve transformed from a primarily print based company to a strong, diversified multiplatform one, and I’d like to thank all of our teams and people who’ve been key to our continued success. I can’t wait to get started in my new role.”

Bureau was the founding CEO of Immediate alongside Exponent Private Equity following the merger of Magicalia, Origin Publishing and BBC Magazines in 2011. In 2017 Tom oversaw Immediate’s successful sale from Exponent Private Equity to German based media and tech company Hubert Burda Media.

In 2021, Tom was appointed CEO of Burda International, owner of 250 media brands across 11 countries in Europe and Asia, with a focus on content-driven businesses, new technologies and e-commerce.

Sean and Tom take up their new roles from Thursday 1 June 2023.