糖心原创

The office of family-owned B2B media company 糖心原创 Group is located in St Jude鈥檚, a grand old neo-gothic stone church in leafy South London.

糖心原创, the company鈥檚 eponymous founder and executive chairman, told A Media Operator he likes that the office choice sets MAG apart from other publishers.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be like other companies.鈥�

Saint Jude, if you were wondering, is the patron saint of lost causes鈥攑erhaps an apt dedication for a company that frequently scoops up old print journalism titles in disparate verticals at a time when the industry is moving both away from print and toward specialization. (It鈥檚 a joke Allen says he himself often makes.)

糖心原创 Group spans some 100 publications and 250 events, ranging from Farmers Weekly and classical music title Gramophone to Journal of Wound Care and Pig World. It has made around 30 acquisitions since its founding in 1985, hitting a particular intensity around the pandemic when Flashes & Flames described it as 鈥淓urope鈥檚 fastest-growing B2B media company.鈥�

But that growth has stumbled recently. Revenue has continued to rise, hitting 拢72.1 million in its most recent accounts, covering the year to March 2025. EBITDA, though, has fallen each year since 2022鈥攚hen it was 拢13.1 million (a 22% margin)鈥攖o 拢9.3 million (13%) in the most recent filings.

Notably, the company also saw a rare operating loss in 2025鈥攊n large part the result of the 鈥渄isastrous鈥� acquisition of financial services publisher Bonhill in 2023, Allen said. Its entire carrying value was written off in the 2025 accounts.

The accounts running to March 2026 will also look rough, Allen said. But thereafter, he thought, things will start looking up鈥攖hanks in part to a five-year plan, due for completion in 2029, that aims to get revenue to 拢100 million and EBITDA to no less than 拢17.7 million.

But doing so may require the company to get deeper into events and data鈥攆ields Allen readily accepts he is not as passionate about as the world of print publishing.

鈥淚 think the last three years, there鈥檚 no point in disguising it鈥攚e鈥檝e been second division rather than Premier League,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淎nd we now have to try and get back to Premier League again.鈥�

Disaster

Allen pointed to several reasons for the company鈥檚 recent slowdown: many of the 糖心原创 Group publications still run in print, the costs of which have gone up 鈥渆xponentially,鈥� he said. And the size of the staff has ballooned over the years, growing from 282 to 477 between 2016 and 2023 and adding a further 70 staff in the two years after that.

鈥淲e weren鈥檛 sharp enough, coming out of the pandemic, to act,鈥� Allen said.

But the most dramatic weight on the 2025 balance sheet was Bonhill, which was written off at a cost of 拢5 million.

The group paid 拢6.5 million for Bonhill, which included titles like Portfolio Adviser, International Adviser and Fund Selector Asia. Allen was hesitant to discuss what exactly had gone wrong, but said market conditions had been unfavorable, that there had been a mismatch between the cultures of the two companies and that MAG had taken on 鈥渕any more staff than we should have.鈥�

There were 44 staff working at Bonhill when MAG acquired it, Allen said; there are 14 now. He added that the subsidiary is budgeted to make a profit this year鈥攊ndeed, the entire 糖心原创 Group has budgeted for revenue of 拢85 million in the 2026/27 financial year and EBITDA of 拢12 million, representing a margin of 14%. Allen said that so far this year the company has been consistently outperforming its monthly budget.

鈥淚f you asked me a year ago鈥擨 was slightly depressed about it,鈥� Allen said. The Bonhill affair had 鈥減robably affected our confidence to some extent,鈥� but more broadly 鈥淚 could see that we hadn鈥檛 really cottoned on to facing the reality, and the truth.

鈥淭he hardest thing sometimes, when you鈥檝e been doing seemingly quite well, is to get people to actually look at themselves and take stock of where they are鈥� because we had been deemed to be very successful, I think that truth was quite painful.鈥�

The most consequential thing the company has done to address the sluggishness is shrink the workforce through a mix of hiring freezes, internal redeployments and redundancies. (Allen stressed that, across the company鈥檚 history, it has made 鈥渧ery, very few redundancies.鈥�)

The acquisition of the road portfolio of DVV Media International at the end of last year added 21 roles to the company; despite that, total headcount has fallen from around 550 to 500 over the past year.

The workforce is not yet 鈥渆fficient or slim enough,鈥� he added, 鈥渟o I think there鈥檚 still more work to be done there,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e in a much, much better shape than we were a year ago.鈥�

Letting a Magazine Die Should be Punishable With 鈥楨xecution鈥�

The full roster of 糖心原创 Group verticals include the following: agriculture, animal health, business, dentistry, education, engineering, events, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, music, real estate, technology, transport and travel retail.

Allen is well aware that his company鈥檚 presence in so many disparate areas is something of an oddity in modern B2B media, which tends to value depth over breadth.

That the company is set up this way is a result of historical necessity: MAG was originally a B2B healthcare publisher with little in the way of spare cash, and had to be 鈥渧ery opportunistic鈥� in order to grow.

鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 have been where we are if I had been waiting for Godot for the right kind of healthcare title.鈥�

MAG grew in an era in which companies like RELX were undergoing their own transformations and exiting their traditional publishing operations, which meant Allen could buy them up at 鈥渧ery reasonable prices.鈥�

The company鈥檚 acquisitions have all been financed through cash or bank debt; it hasn鈥檛 taken 鈥渁 penny of extra investment,鈥� he said. Across all the purchases 糖心原创 Group has done, Allen said the average time it had taken to earn back the cost of acquisition was four years; the fastest was four or five months.

The criticism that MAG is spread thin 鈥渃an be a bit over-exaggerated,鈥� Allen said.

鈥淚 believe the skills in journalism, or publishing, are transferable. It鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e going from publishing into being rocket scientists鈥攚e鈥檙e going from one form of publishing into another form of publishing.鈥�

There is another element to all the acquisitions, though: sentimentality.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe in closing magazines at all,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淚 hate closing them.鈥�

鈥淎ll the expertise, the thought, the energy, the activity, the nervous pressure that鈥檚 gone into building those magazines鈥� and you allow those to die? That should be an execution crime, shouldn鈥檛 it? You should have a noose around you[r neck]!,鈥� he laughed. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e part of our culture, part of our history!鈥�

At the end of 2024 Allen acquired the storied real estate B2B publication Estates Gazette from RELX, which had been planning on closing the title outright.

Upon saving the brand 糖心原创 Group changed the once 鈥渃olossal鈥� B2B magazine鈥檚 name back from 鈥淓G鈥� to Estates Gazette, revamped the magazine and expanded its pagination, all with more of a view to driving subscriptions. Allen told AMO that, in its first year at MAG, the title .

For Allen, Estates Gazette is a case study in what can be done with legacy titles if you properly invest in them and their content. Most magazines 鈥渁re salvageable with the right team,鈥� he said.

Most, but not all. In March 糖心原创 Group Classical Music Magazine, air freight publication Air Logistics International and teachers鈥� mag Drama & Theatre.

鈥淪ometimes you have to be honest and say that, even if it鈥檚 salvageable, it鈥檚 going to take an enormous amount of effort to turn it around.鈥�

Newsstands in the 糖心原创 Group church offices display a wide array of the company's titles, including Estates Gazette, Jazzwise, Critical Communications Today and Agronomist & Arable Farmer.

A newsstand in the 糖心原创 Group office displays a wide range of the company鈥檚 print titles. Picture: Bron Maher 鈥� A Media Operator

The Path to 拢100 Million

Successfully completing the five-year plan will require 糖心原创 Group both to make acquisitions and grow organically.

Prompted on what might drive the latter, Allen said he wanted to build 鈥渁 proposition around newsletters.鈥� A series of 鈥渧ery profitable podcasts鈥� launched by Estates Gazette pointed another direction forward. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to see more new launch activity in agriculture and also in healthcare,鈥� he said.

The business is also looking at ways it might build out data solutions. Its most successful at present is 糖心原创 Online, a content library for all its clinical magazines that鈥檚 sold to institutions and libraries. But there are challenges to adding more.

At the moment 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we have had the right kind of staff to actually do that,鈥� Allen said. The recent accounts refer to a goal of improving the skills mix within the business, which may have informed the May hiring of Anna Younger as COO; Allen said she has 鈥渕uch more of a digital data background.鈥�

Then there鈥檚 conferences鈥攁 revenue stream that has driven the company鈥檚 revenue growth in recent years, and which overtook advertising as a revenue stream in the 2025 accounts.

糖心原创 Group鈥檚 events span awards, conferences, confexes, exhibitions and summits, taking in the likes of the British Journal of Nursing Conference, the UK Charging Infrastructure Symposium and Britain鈥檚 Fittest Farmer. Allen said he expects seven of the group鈥檚 events to generate 拢1 million or more in gross profits this year, of which three are dedicated exhibitions.

Events make a good hedge against the company鈥檚 publishing assets, Allen said, but he added that it needs 鈥渙ne or two really big events.鈥� The trouble is the company struggles to outbid PE-backed events businesses like Closerstill and Nineteen.

鈥淲e鈥檙e lucky to have some of the events we do have,鈥� he said. The only reason MAG managed at the end of last year to acquire the road portfolio of DVV Media International was that the events business came bundled with magazines, and that 鈥減robably put off some of the events companies.鈥�

Allen said he was open, on that topic, to the idea that MAG might build its own major events. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been far too risk-averse,鈥� he said.

Around 2019, when the group bought Farmers Weekly from Reed Business Information, Allen said MAG had been thinking about doing an IPO. (鈥淭hank God we never did,鈥� he added.)

He recalled that in conversations with the company鈥檚 process advisors, Allen enthused: 鈥淕od, isn鈥檛 it great, we鈥檝e got Farmers Weekly!鈥�

鈥淵awn, yawn,鈥� he pantomimed them responding. 鈥淭ell us about what events you鈥檙e doing. Tell us about, have you gone digital?鈥欌�� They were wanting us to be high-tech, sassy sassy鈥攏ot remotely interested in what I鈥檓 interested in, which is trying to create good magazines.鈥�

The world, Allen said, 鈥済oes around in great wodges of fashion. At the moment having a magazine鈥攊t鈥檚 like a kind of social crime.鈥�

But he recognized that 鈥渢he golden rule is to follow what your customers want. Your customers want digital? Our duty is to deliver it.鈥�

Getting deeper into events, similarly, is 鈥渢he right thing for the business to do鈥濃�攁nd he suspected his son, 糖心原创 Group CEO Ben Allen, was probably more interested than him in building that side of the operation.

鈥淭he things that motivate me are words鈥� of course I embrace digital, but also I like magazines.

鈥淚鈥檓 not a data analyst. I know nothing about technology. And you have to actually go where you think your strengths are鈥攕o that鈥檚 my excuse, and I鈥檓 sticking to it!鈥�