Category: Industry News

Future highlights that the deal will:

• Complement its existing portfolio and is fully aligned with its strategy, to diversify their audience and content monetisation
• Drive synergies and deliver strong incremental capabilities across social, newsletters and podcasts to benefit existing portfolio of leading brands
• Deliver value creation with high direct revenue growth, EBITDA margin at 40% and returns higher than WACC
  

About SheerLuxe

SheerLuxe is a highly-recognised Google-Zero brand that draws an audience of 6m across social, newsletters, websites and podcasts, skewed to Gen Z.

SheerLuxe was founded by Georgie Coleridge Cole in 2007 as a directory of online retailers, and has evolved into a leading UK digital publisher in Women’s fashion and lifestyle. It comprises a portfolio of digital brands that reaches an audience of over 6m, including 2.3m monthly page views, 2.4m social followers, 0.9m email subscribers and 0.4m YouTube and podcast subscribers.

In the 12 months to September 2025, SheerLuxe generated revenues of £12.6m and delivered EBITDA of £5.1m, representing a margin of approximately 40%. The business has been growing through innovation, having achieved +32% organic revenue CAGR since FY 2023 (year to March 2023) while remaining fully self-funded given its strong cash generative profile.

Strategic rationale

SheerLuxe represents a unique investment opportunity for Future. It is highly complementary to their portfolio of brands and offers multiple avenues to drive the platform effect. SheerLuxe is a high-growth Google-Zero brand, with Gen-Z audiences across social, newsletters, and podcasts which drive high levels of direct audience and engagement.

According to Future, this acquisition will benefit their portfolio from incremental skills and capabilities that SheerLuxe brings in this area. SheerLuxe will also benefit from Future’s strong UK commercial team, enabling an acceleration of the strategy by developing new business opportunities across Future’s broader platform of brand and agency partners. Further, SheerLuxe will be able to leverage Future’s innovative products such as Collab and Future Optic, driving growth in the business.

It further strengthens Future’s Fashion & Beauty vertical which includes leading brands such as Marie Claire and Who What Wear.

Leveraging Future’s presence and relationships, Future also plans to launch SheerLuxe in the US.

Financial information

Future reports that in the 12 months to September 2025, SheerLuxe generated revenues of £12.6m and EBITDA of £5.1m. The acquisition is for an initial cash consideration of £39.9m on a cash-free debt-free basis to acquire 100% of SheerLuxe, and represents an EV/ LTM EBITDA multiple of 7.8x. Total acquisition consideration is capped at £80m. This would require the delivery of an ambitious business plan and continued double-digit EBITDA growth through to FY 2029 and continued employment of SheerLuxe current management team.

Kevin Li Ying, CEO of Future, said: “I am delighted to welcome the SheerLuxe team to Future. We have long admired SheerLuxe for the status and brand credibility it has established in fashion, beauty and lifestyle. With a rare combination of strong growth characteristics and a loyal, high-value audience, SheerLuxe will be highly complementary to our portfolio and will benefit from our scale and commercial capabilities.”

Georgie Coleridge Cole, founder of SheerLuxe, said: “Joining Future represents a huge milestone for SheerLuxe. Since it was founded in 2007, SheerLuxe has become an authoritative voice on fashion, beauty, culture and lifestyle focused on inspiring, educating and entertaining our fast-growing audience. With its innovative approach to media, Future is a natural home for us, and we are excited about what we can achieve working with Kevin and the wider team.”

Recent Men’s Health cover star Ben Shephard will co-host new podcast, Built For Life, with Men’s Health UK’s Director of Fitness, Andrew Tracey.

Launching on Thursday 22 January, Built For Life will welcome industry leading experts like Michelin-star chef Tom Aikens, as well as guests from the world of sport and entertainment. The first episode will kick off with Paddy Pimblett, the UFC star better known as ‘Paddy the Baddy’, ahead of his high-profile fight.

Other guests to follow in the coming weeks and months include TV personality Spencer Matthews, who sat down with Men’s Health UK just days after arriving back from an epic endurance challenge in the Antarctic.

Ben Shephard, broadcaster, journalist and founder of The Business Men said: “The chance to work with Andrew Tracey – who is such a mine of knowledge, experience and practical ideas – and the Men’s Health team was something I jumped at.

I love Men’s Health and everything it represents, and to be able to quiz all these brilliant minds and talented individuals who share our passion for health and wellbeing whether they’re chefs, broadcasters, athletes, musicians, physicians or simply passionate amateurs is truly inspiring. I feel like a kid in a sweet shop, just with less sweets and more protein!”

Andrew Tracey, Director of Fitness, Men’s Health UK added: “Our focus at Men’s Health UK has always been to cut through the noise and hype – providing measured, scientific and expert consensus, alongside inspirational and actionable real-world advice. It feels more important now than ever to bring that energy to the podcast world. We’re not pretending this podcast will change your life, but we do promise it will give you the tools you need to go out and do that yourself.”

Built For Life joins a number of podcasts produced by Hearst UK, which include Women’s Health’s Just As Well, Good Housekeeping’s My Life is a Biscuit Tin, and the Runner’s World podcast. It will be available on all major podcast platforms, and Men’s Health UK’s YouTube channel.

Bauer Media Group is combining its three UK businesses, Outdoor, Publishing, and Audio, to deliver life-saving impact at scale.

Bauer Media Outdoor is transforming everyday infrastructure into a network of emergency access points. Defibrillators are being installed in select communication kiosks nationwide and in bus shelters in Portsmouth, each clearly marked and registered on The Circuit, the UK’s national defibrillator network. Wherever possible, Bauer Media Outdoor will work with partners to place defibrillators in underserved communities, ensuring they are available where needed most.

This means emergency services can instantly direct people to the nearest available unit. To support those moments, RCUK CPQR codes will be added to the access points, delivering guidance on the steps needed for CPR and using a defibrillator. Later this year, a nationwide Out of Home campaign will reinforce awareness on digital screens across the UK.

Bauer Media Publishing has already rolled out RCUK advertising across its portfolio of magazines, including: TV Choice, Take a Break, CAR and Today’s Golfer, while digital ads have appeared across brands such as Grazia, Closer, Mojo and Empire.

Bauer Media Audio will take the message onto radio, with campaigns across stations, including Greatest Hits Radio, Magic and Jazz FM.

The collaboration also includes a CPR awareness programme for Bauer Media Group staff across all three businesses, embedding lifesaving knowledge internally while driving impact externally.

Together, these channels create a multi-platform effort to raise awareness, tackle inequalities, and expand access to life-saving knowledge and tools nationwide.

Every year, more than 40,000 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK, yet less than 1 in 10 survive. ¹ Survival rates are lowest in deprived communities, where CPR is performed less often. Over a third (38%) of UK adults have never received CPR training, ² and only 22% of people from certain ethnic minority backgrounds have received training in the last decade, compared to 41% of the wider UK population.³ This partnership aims to close that gap.

Simon Kilby, Managing Director, Bauer Media Advertising, commented: “Bauer Media Group’s reach spans millions of people every day in print, on air, and out on the streets. That gives us a unique opportunity, and a responsibility, to use our platforms for good. Through this partnership with RCUK, we’re not just sharing information, we’re embedding life-saving tools into the heart of our infrastructure and communities. From training our teams to fitting automated external defibrillators in everyday spaces, this is about giving people the confidence, knowledge, and access to act when every second matters.”

James Cant, CEO of Resuscitation Council UK, said: “Survival from cardiac arrest shouldn’t depend on your postcode or your background. This partnership with Bauer Media Group is a bold step towards changing that – putting defibrillators where they’re needed most and empowering more people with the knowledge and confidence to save a life when every second counts.”

The National Year of Reading has been designed to inspire people of all ages to ‘go all in’ on the things they already love through reading in whatever way works for them – whether that’s magazines, graphic novels, print books or audiobooks.  

Sajeeda Merali, CEO, PPA said: “The PPA is proud to support the National Year of Reading. Magazine brands have a long-standing role in encouraging lifelong reading habits and engaging audiences of all ages. Through this partnership, we want to highlight the power of reading and the cognitive, emotional and social benefits it brings, helping to transform attitudes to reading, inspire curiosity, and better enable people to tell the difference between fact and fiction. We will be encouraging our members to pledge their support and get behind this very important campaign.” 

Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive, National Literacy Trust commented: “The National Year of Reading provides us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate the UK’s relationship with reading and change people’s life stories. Whether it’s a baby experiencing the magic of a picture book for the first time, a family listening to an audiobook on the school run, a teenager immersed in fan fiction, or an adult reading the football pages on their commute, reading is for everyone.”  

At the launch event, former Arsenal and England footballer Theo Walcott, author, producer, and TV presenter Richard Osman and children’s authors and illustrators Nadia Shireen and Jordan Glover joined local primary school children in a series of activities to spotlight how passions such as football can ignite a love of reading and lead to exciting jobs. 

Throughout the year, there will be lots of opportunities for individuals, families, schools, libraries, businesses and community and cultural partners to get involved with the National Year of Reading. 

The PPA will providing more details of how members can directly get involved in the coming weeks, but in the meantime more information can be found here.  

Prior to joining Time Out, Corner held senior roles at Gay Times for over seven years, including Senior Vice President of Global Content, and was awarded PPA Editor of the Year in 2023.

Corner commented on the promotion, “I’m looking forward to working even more closely with the brilliant UK team and helping to shape the next chapter for Time Out.”

As Big Issue heads into its 35th anniversary year of celebrations, with plans for new development, growth and approach, McNamee has decided to step aside from his role as UK Editor.

McNamee commented “I’m incredibly proud of all we have achieved through the years, as a wider group, but with focus on our editorial output – not least that we have been one of the only key national titles with the editorial base in Glasgow.

When I was first given the privilege of being UK editor I said I wanted to create something that people wanted to read, not that they thought they ought to. And with a team that has changed and evolved, and many brilliant young journalists who have learned their craft then headed into the world, I think we have done that, in print, and increasingly online.

I thank every single one of the reporters, subs, photographers, editors, production editors, designers, freelancers, columnists, and now commercial team. It has been a ride.”

McNamee leaves Big Issue on 31 March, with news on future plans to come soon. The new Editor has not yet been announced.

Good Health posts health videos 5-6 times a week across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube created by the expert in-house team, alongside curated content from specialist contributors delivering accessible and science-backed health advice.

The content focuses on healthy eating, wellbeing, fitness, and general health, with current myth-busting content ranging from sleep, gut health, and supplements to weight loss jabs, diabetes, and women’s health.

It also offers trending recipe inspiration, such as Fibremaxxed sweet potato brownies, ‘marry-me’ butter beans, and Tiramisu baked oats.

The content team includes experts such as Melissa Hemsley, Dr Chintal Patel, Jordan Haworth (Mr Gut Health), Divya Sharma (Dr Bowl), Caff Rabess, plus Good Health’s registered nutritionist Melissa Kuman, and Good Food’s Deputy Health Editor, Issie Keeling.

The launch is supported by new research and a Whitepaper from Good Food on ‘How the UK Really Eats’. The study exposes a lack of trust and clarity, particularly among young people, about how to eat healthily.

Commissioned by YouGov, with over 2,100 respondents, the study reveals 26% of UK adults believe nutritional advice is often confusing or overwhelming. Crucially, one in five (21%) do not know which sources to trust, with nearly a quarter (24%) stating they would welcome clearer, more straightforward guidance.

This confusion is leading young adults to unverified sources, making them vulnerable to misinformation. For the 18-24 age group, social media (31%) is their top source for nutritional information, trumping the NHS or Government websites (27%), and well ahead of those who turn to doctors and health professionals (17%) or traditional food media (17%). This is despite only 2% of AI-analysed nutrition video content on TikTok proving to be accurate, according to research from DCU Business School. 

Good Health is aiming to challenge this misinformation with accessible science-backed content. Since soft-launching in September, social channels have already gained 9.8m impressions, 4.3m video views, and 480k engagements – as well as 8.26k followers.  

Natalie Hardwick, Head of Multiplatform Operations, Good Food commented: “Our audiences prioritise health and with the launch of Good Health we guarantee hype-free, myth-busting content brought by doctors, nutritionists, dieticians, and specialists – giving on-topic advice that our fast-growing community can live by.

The Good Health team takes a deep dive into the latest research, trending social topics and viral recipes, allowing us to act quickly to produce content that’s truly zeitgeist but most importantly – accurate, relatable, and no-nonsense.”  

Emma Hartfield, Health Editor, Good Food added: “Good Health is a hugely exciting project, taking health content from Good Food and transforming it into a fast-moving social-first brand to reach a whole new audience. Sticking to our ethos of expert-created, research-backed content, we’re proud to be a brand that our followers know they can trust in the Wild West of online health advice.”

Find out more across Good Health’s social channels: Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Founded 11 years ago, Country Walking’s Walk1000Miles challenge is for anyone of any age, fitness level and experience – it’s free to join, fun and flexible.

The challenge is: walk 1,000 miles in a year, the equivalent of Land’s End to John o’Groats (the long way), averaging just 2.74 miles a day. It has been highly praised by GPs and health practitioners.

Included with the February issue, the Walk1000Miles supplement covers all aspects of the challenge for beginners as well as seasoned walkers to get them started, along with a special progress tracker card to count miles.  

Walk1000Miles 2026 is partnering with brands including Scarpa outdoor footwear, Bridgedale world-leading socks, and Ordnance Survey maps and navigation.

Celebrities backing the initiative include actor and broadcaster, Stephen Fry who says: “Walk1000miles is an idea without flaw… and you might find it brings 1000 other benefits too.” Clare Balding, broadcaster, author and presenter of Radio 4’s Ramblings, musician JB Gill, and Julia Bradbury, TV’s best-known walker.

Celebrities from Bauer Media’s audio brands taking part include: Fleur East and Hits Radio Breakfast Show co-hosts Will Best and James Barr, Nicki Chapman Magic Radio Presenter, Kate Thornton Greatest Hits Radio Presenter, BBC Morning Live Presenter Michelle Ackerley, and Royal author and broadcaster Katie Nicholl.

Since the launch, the challenge has amassed more than 100,000 registrations and more than 40,000 members to its growing Facebook community.  Anyone can sign up to the Walk1000miles challenge by registering for FREE online at www.walk1000miles.co.uk.  

New participants will automatically join the established community, where they can gain tips and advice, mentoring, support and encouragement to achieve individual goals, or join approved sub-groups to share experiences. 

Nick Hallissey, Head of Content, Country Walking, says: “You only need to look at the success stories of Walk1000Miles to see the impact. The people who’ve shed pounds, turned the clock back, made lifelong friends, or just surprised themselves by becoming a brighter, shinier version of the people they were. Others have walked their way back from the most debilitating illnesses or found a way to manage bereavement, or trauma, or anxiety. For whatever reason, thousands of people use the same simple phrase: ‘this challenge changed my life’.”

Rachael Beesley, Publisher, Country Walking, added: “Country Walking’s Walk1000miles is a proven initiative to transform people’s lives ‘one step at a time’.  Since launch over 100k people have signed up to Walk1000miles, with tens of thousands joining each year to improve their mental and physical health, fitness, weight loss and happiness.  With the continued support of our partners, health experts, celebrities and by increasing awareness, we predict Walk1000miles 2026 will be our biggest and best challenge yet.”

Walkers can get a badge, stickers, an inspirational 2026 calendar and new eco-friendly medals from Country Walking’s shop, and there are plenty of resources to download for free at www.walk1000miles.co.uk. 

Country Walking is published monthly, priced £6.25, and is available at all major retailers and at greatmagazines.co.uk/countrywalking (print and digital editions).

The move marks a significant leadership shift, as the group sharpens its focus on future-facing growth.

Smosarski will now take full leadership responsibility, previously held by Ella Dolphin who became Deputy CEO of DC Thomson last April.

Under Smosarski’s editorial leadership, Stylist has evolved into a multi-platform powerhouse, pioneering digital transformation and laying the foundations for a subscriptions and memberships business, alongside its original free print publication, which remains at the heart of the brand.

Smosarski said: “I am extraordinarily proud of what we have built at Stylist — a brand that doesn’t just inform and entertain but genuinely helps the women we serve in their everyday lives. Quality content and strong community have always been at the heart of Stylist and, as we look to the future, my focus is on ensuring we build a model where exceptional content leads the way — for both our partners as well as the incredibly loyal audience we serve.”

Ella Dolphin, Deputy CEO, DC Thomson said: “Lisa is a phenomenal leader who has consistently turned purpose into action. The vision for Stylist came from Lisa at very beginning, and I have every confidence she will build the business of the future.”

The Stylist Group will focus on scaling its membership propositions, growing Think Stylist as a dedicated B2B insight and analysis offering for brands, and building on Stylist’s brand partnerships, with recent collaborations including Google, Pandora, Intrepid Travel and Tu.