Calum Taylor has resigned from Centaur Exhibitions after a 22-year stint with the company. His departure coincides with a restructure at Centaur Media which will see the company split into three operating divisions: Business publishing, business information and exhibitions.
 
“Centaur has many excellent brands and I have been fortunate to create, work on and develop many of them over the last 22 years,” Taylor said in a statement. “However, working in an entrepreneurial environment has fuelled my desire to own my own company. With Centaur Exhibitions profits once again growing strongly, now is the right time to move on.”
 
Centaur is now searching for a replacement to takeover from 1 September. Taylor has been the head of Centaur Exhibitions for 10 years.
 
The group’s restructuring into three divisions will also see the senior management team strengthened, while its business publishing division is rationalised. One new addition is former Emap Informa CEO Simon Middelboe, who will lead the new business information division from 1 August.
 
Other plans include merging its legal and financial publishing businesses, dropping the print versions of its Design Week and New Media Age titles, combining HR and engineering publishing, and disposing of several assets including recruitment, manufacturing, B2B construction and logistics and supply chain.
 
According to several media reports, Centaur’s restructure will result in about 60 jobs, or 10 per cent of its workforce, being lost. The company claims the restructuring will have no impact on its underlying performance for the year to 30 June.
 
“These restructuring initiatives will substantially improve the balance of the group’s revenue profile, our rate of growth and margins,” group chief executive Geoff Wilmot said. “The strengthening of the management team and operational changes are the next step in our repositioning to takefull advantage of the significant growth opportunities in digital media and events. They will also reinforce our focus on building high-value subscription revenues and provide a robust operational structure to support acquisitions.”
 
Centaur reported a year-on-year increase in event revenues for the first four months of the year, buoyed by its Business Travel and National Homebuilding and Renovating Shows.
 
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