Alastair Lewis appointed CEO of FIPP

The announcement was made by FIPP Chair Yulia Boyle during her opening address at the 46th FIPP World Media Congress taking place in Cascais, Portugal. Lewis has been the interim managing director of FIPP for the last six months.

“I’m very excited to be given the opportunity,” Lewis said after the announcement. “Having spent the last six months in the interim position has been a really good opportunity to understand the association, understand the business, understand the landscape and what we can and should be doing for FIPP and for our members.”

“In combination with Yulia and the board, I think I have increasingly felt over that period that it’s a role that I would like to take on and feel well placed to be able to continue to deliver for our members.”

Lewis paid tribute to former FIPP President & CEO, James Hewes. “James left us in a very strong position. We knew that we were in a good position coming into this year. So, my job’s been relatively straightforward to keep the wheels on the road. We’ve done that and it gives me confidence that we can build from here.

“It’s an exciting time for media and I think there has actually never been a more important time for an association like ours to exist – the role we play in bringing together quality media owners, bridging the world through our network and our community and providing some kind of counterpoint to the big tech platforms that are dominating our space. Never before have publishers needed an association like ours to exist, and I’m looking forward to making it happen.”

Yulia Boyle added: “It’s been a really good year for FIPP. It was a big transition after James Hewes left, who was a fantastic CEO and President. Alastair took on the challenge and he seamlessly and effectively navigated the operations, business and engagement with our members. The statistics are really the proof of his success because our membership is up year-on-year, no publishing member resigned this year and our yield from each of the members is also up.

“This is really an incredible result and very rare in our industry, especially in a professional association space. That is a testament to Alastair’s strong leadership in the industry and his refreshing tactics of engagement with our members. And I think that’s what he brings to the table and the position.”