Ian Birch

Ian Birch is former Editorial Director of Hearst UK and Emap.

He began his magazine career in the late 1970s as a reporter for Melody Maker, before moving to Smash Hits, where he was assistant editor for three years from 1984. His first launch and editorship came in the late 1980s with Sky magazine. At Hearst UK he oversaw brands like Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, Men's Health and Good Housekeeping.

Prior to working at Hearst, Birch was chief content officer at TV Guide in New York for four years; and before this he was editorial director at Emap for more than 10 years, where he helped to launch Red, Closer, Grazia and re-launch Heat.