RBI Reorganizes Construction Media Group

Reed Business Information’s Construction Media group has reorganized its publishing management and sales operations under one umbrella—including its residential, non-residential, equipment and online properties.

“Our construction titles continue to perform well relative to their respective market sectors, however print advertising volumes have of course declined and it is necessary that we design our organization to appropriately reflect current and anticipated conditions,” Reed Construction Data CEO Iain Melville wrote in an e-mail to FOLIO:.

While some jobs were cut as a result of the reorganization, Melville declined to say exactly how many or which positions were eliminated. Those who were cut, he said, were included in RBI’s 7 percent staffing reduction last week—the company’s second 7 percent reduction in three months.

RBI’s Construction Media group includes Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Custom Builder, Building Construction & Design and Construction Equipment magazines.

Earlier this month, RBI closed all but one of the magazines published under its Associated Construction Publications group, which consisted of 14 titles serving the heavy, highway and non-residential construction industries.

New Chairman Named

Ian Smith, the recently-named chief executive of RBI parent Reed Elsevier, named Anthony Habgood chairman of the company.

According to a Financial Times news report, Smith also hinted at a possible merger between Reed and Dutch publisher Wolters Kluwer. “Well, it is too early to look outside of the company as our current priority is internal,” Smith said.

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