Future plc

• 1. From Somerton to the Stock Exchange

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  Future plc began life in 1985 in Somerton, Somerset, a market town of fewer than 5,000 people, with a single magazine about the Amstrad home computer. Chris Anderson founded the company as Future Publishing with nothing but Amstrad Action and an idea that reader loyalty could be earned through cover-mounted freebies. The decision to bundle free software on magazine covers was an early and distinctive move, one that helped the company stand apart from competitors at a time when readers were hungry for cheap ways to expand their home computers.

  By 1994, Future had grown enough that Pearson plc paid £52.7 million to acquire it. Anderson was willing to sell, but not to stay away. Four years later he bought the company back for £142 million, a price that reflected how much value had accumulated in the intervening years. The company went public on the London Stock Exchange in 1999, and Anderson departed in 2001, leaving behind an organisation that had already stretched from Somerset into the United States through the 1994 establishment of Future US.

• 2. Controversy and Corporate Tumble

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  In 2004, Future faced accusations of corruption tied to the video game Driver 3. Two of its owned magazines, Xbox World and PSM2, published positive reviews of the game, prompting criticism that editorial independence had been compromised for commercial reasons. The incident planted a lasting question about the relationship between gaming magazines and the publishers whose products they covered.

  Worse was to come financially. A profit warning in October 2011 sent both the chief executive and finance director out the door at short notice. Analysts noted the company needed a thorough restructuring if it was to survive the shift from print to digital. Future responded by cutting 55 jobs from its UK operation and, in March 2014, closing all of its US-based print publications. Print support functions, including consumer marketing, production, and editorial leadership, were moved to the UK. Later that year Future sold its sport and craft titles to Immediate Media and its auto titles to Kelsey Media, shedding weight to stay mobile.

• 3. Byng-Thorne Takes the Wheel

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  In April 2014, Zillah Byng-Thorne, then serving as finance director, was appointed chief executive to replace Mark Wood, who had held the role since 2011. Her appointment marked a turning point. Where her predecessors had managed decline, Byng-Thorne pursued growth through acquisition at a pace that reshaped the company's identity.

  2018 was a landmark year. Future purchased the What Hi-Fi?, FourFourTwo, Practical Caravan, and Practical Motorhome brands from Haymarket. It also acquired NewBay Media, which published trade titles across broadcast, professional-video, and systems-integration sectors, along with several consumer music magazines. The NewBay deal brought most of the US consumer music titles back into Future's portfolio, with one notable exception: Revolver had been sold to Project M Group in 2017 and remained outside the fold.

  The buying continued into 2019. Future paid $132 million for the Purch Group, $115 million for Mobile Nations and its titles Android Central, iMore, Windows Central, and Thrifter, and $45 million for SmartBrief, a digital media publisher. By November 2019, the company had added Barcroft Studios for £23.5 million in a mix of cash and shares, renaming it Future Studios.

• 4. Billion-Pound Ambitions

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  The acquisitions of 2020 and 2021 moved Future into a different financial category. In April 2020 it paid £140 million for TI Media and its 41 brands. Eight months later it agreed to a £594 million takeover of GoCo plc, the parent of Gocompare.com, a price-comparison website with mass consumer recognition far outside the media world. In August 2021 came the purchase of Dennis Publishing and its 12 magazines for £300 million.

  Future had transformed from a specialist magazine group into a diversified media and comparison-services business. Future Studios, built on the Barcroft acquisition, became its video division. Marketforce, acquired as part of the 2019 TI Media deal, handled sales, marketing, and distribution. The portfolio that emerged spans TechRadar, PC Gamer, Tom's Hardware, Marie Claire, GamesRadar+, Android Central, CinemaBlend, and dozens of other titles.

• 5. Leadership Shifts and Late Closures

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  In February 2022, Byng-Thorne's pay package attracted public criticism. Reports noted she stood to receive £40 million if the company performed well, a sum that drew scrutiny given the scale of restructuring employees had absorbed in preceding years. She resigned with effect from the 3rd of April 2023 and was succeeded by Jon Steinberg.

  The years that followed brought a wave of closures that underlined how digital transition continued to squeeze print. In April 2023 Future sold its shooting magazines, including Shooting Times and Sporting Gun, to Fieldsports Press. In August 2024 it announced that Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News would close after more than 90 years of publication. The main title Broadcasting had first appeared in 1931; the merged Multichannel News title dated from 1980. October 2024 brought further cuts in the UK, ending Play, All About Space, Total 911, and 3D World. Total Film, a monthly movie magazine that had run for 27 years, also ceased publication that month. Kevin Li Ying took over as chief executive on the 31st of March 2025, inheriting a company that still carries the Amstrad Action DNA of 1985 but now publishes across platforms that could not have been imagined in Somerton.