Oakley joins Chapter Eight as chairman
Chapter Eight has announced that it has appointed Chris Oakley CBE as its new chairman while Fiona Cartwright has joined to head up its specialist emarketing team.
In 1991 Oakley led the £120m acquisition of regional newspapers based in and around Birmingham and Coventry called Midland Independent Newspapers (MIN) which was later sold to the Mirror group in 1997 for £315m.
As a result, he joined the Board of Mirror Group with responsibility for its Scottish, Belfast and English regional newspapers, its magazines and special publications.
Oakley has, until recently, worked as European media consultant with Candover, the global private equity company which was the principal backer of his two newspaper deals.
He will now work with managing director Mario Thomas on the strategic development of the Leed-based business.
The two are connected from when Thomas played a key role in developing the second Candover buy-out.
“It’s an exciting time to join Chapter Eight and to be working closely with Mario and some of the original RIM team again in what, unsurprisingly, is one of the fastest growing digital agencies in the UK, having delivered more than 500 digital, software and emarketing projects to date,” commented Oakley.
Oakley is also chairman of Newsco Insider Ltd, a business magazine, online and event company and chief executive of his own Belgian-registered company, Comm VA MEF, which acts as a consultant to and European companies on media acquisitions, employment law and re-structuring.
Meanwhile, Cartwright will head up the emarketing team which will look to generate awareness of the company’s ebusiness outsourcing service while also working alongside clients such as fashion brand Lyle & Scott.
She has previously worked at JDA, WWAV Rapp Collins North and most recently, The Whole Caboodle.