Ex-Shortlist chief Mike Soutar named Evening Standard CEO
Media veteran Mike Soutar, a former editor of FHM and co-founder of Shortlist Media, has been appointed chief executive of The Evening Standard.
Mike Soutar, media exec, featuring on BBC show The Apprentice
The news brand, edited by former chancellor George Osborne, has suffered a turbulent time financially and has brought Soutar aboard to course correct.
Having co-founded Shortlist magazine (now defunct but survived by sister title Stylist), Soutar brings expertise in managing a print product distributed freely in cities, which is the model deployed by The Standard. He starts in the newly created role on 7 October.
Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard, said: “We are delighted that Mike has joined the Evening Standard at this important time for the company and wider industry and are confident that his vast media experience and leadership skills will make a great success of this new role.”
Soutar added: "I’ve been a regular reader of the Evening Standard since the late 1980s when I first moved to London. I look forward to working with the talented team to grow an even stronger business that will continue to play a central role in shaping and reporting the cultural and political development of the greatest city in the world."
The title recently made editorial cuts and spoke of knitting digital and print teams closer.
Soutar, who has also served as a director at Ti Media and editor of Smash Hits, previously talked The Drum through the evolution of lad culture, having seen how profitable it was at the height of his FHM reign.