THE BOARD
The Independent Publishers Alliance was established in early 2021 to support, represent and connect independent publishers and to advocate for their interests. It focuses on publishers falling within the following parameters:
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Members are Independent Publishers
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Members have a strong digital presence
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Members are not Private Equity or VC owned
Interested in the betterment of digital publishing and prepared to be active in this pursuit.
The board of the Alliance is made up of a cross-section of media and publishing professionals from across the UK who are giving up their time at no cost to help represent and advocate on behalf of their members.
ALEX NEWBERRY
Alex has been working in digital media since 2010. Starting at Haymarket Publishing and working at Independent Publishers such as Crash Media and The Official Charts. He is now CRO of Content Ignite and was a co-founder of The Alliance with Jon Westbrook and Dan Hodgson, based on the differing experiences he faced going from small publishers into big tech.
“ I am immensely proud of what we have achieved to date with The Alliance and really feel we are providing a service that has been desperately needed. Bringing highly experienced independent publishers such as Gemma Julia and Chris onto the Alliance board seemed like the next natural step and will really help us to grow.”
JON WESTBROOK
Jon has been selling advertising space and either working with or for media businesses since 1988. Jon has spent the last 5 years at Sovrn, most recently supporting independent publishers with their ad set-ups and strategies.
“I am really excited about the Alliance and how it can bring disparate businesses together and get them talking and sharing ideas, their successes and their pain. Viva Independents!”
“I felt most fulfilled and did most of my best work when working for and with Independent publishers. Decisions get made quickly and we could produce editorial products that could upset the norm from established publishers and brands. This extends to my own personal choices – my most valued and heavily visited sites are produced by Independents.
CHRIS DICKER
Chris has been in media for over 18 years where he specialised in creating commercial teams and new revenue streams. More recently he led the management buyout of Trusted Reviews away from TI-Media where he currently works as Managing And Executive Board Director.
“I feel honored to have been asked to join the board of The Alliance and look forward to meeting and helping other independent publishers in the coming weeks and beyond.”
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CRAIG KIRKCALDY
Craig joins us from a new to market Independent publisher BGFG, built from the ground up in the last 3 years, he and his Cofounders have seen incredible growth with there rapidly expanding digital publications in the PC, Gaming And technology sector.
"I have learnt so much over the last few years of what not to do when attempting to build a new new business within an incredibly competitive market. We founded BGFG off the back of our shared passions in Gaming and Technology, without this at our core we wouldn't be where we are today"
"I first heard about the Alliance in 2022, through another Independent Publisher, we have learnt an incredible amount from industry veterans. The level of transparency and information sharing across each publisher and SME's has been a game changer for our business".
When I was asked to join the board by Alex and John, I felt incredibly humbled and hope I can share our story and help other new Publishers entering into the market!
JULIA BARRASS
Julia has been working in Advertising for 25 years.
Having started at the Guardian Newspaper then spent 21 years at TI Media working with some of the best in the industry and now Head of Commercial at Kelsey Media.
" When I first heard of The Alliance, I thought wow what a fantastic initiative and jumped to attend one of their events. It’s such a brilliant forum to bring together a collection of varied Independent Publishers to give us a bigger voice and to be able to share ideas and the pain! "
" The passion that comes from Independent Publishers is addictive and nothing like I’ve ever experienced before now.
I’m delighted to now be part of the board and look forward to working alongside the rest of the team and helping and welcoming other Independent Publishers in the future. "