Today sees the publication of NLA’s 2017 Annual Report, which charts a year of strong performance and record returns to publishers – and also one of substantial change for the organisation.
2016 saw long-standing members of NLA’s leadership team depart: David Pugh retired as Managing Director after seven years of success, including driving revenue growth of over 50% since 2011. Our longstanding Sales Director Susan Dowley also stepped down after an impressive 11 years with the company. We wish them both well.
The year also saw significant change outside the organisation. Several new players entered the UK MMO market, and online news outlets continued to experiment with different forms of subscription alongside the conventional advertising-funded model. The Independent becoming a digital-only newspaper was a dramatic example of how news and publishing is evolving in the digital age – a change that NLA is navigating while maintaining our service to customers.
In this context we are delighted with NLA’s record results and continued domestic and international growth. We posted revenues of £42 million, growing overall royalties for publishers by more than 4%. This was especially significant for magazine and regional publishers, who enjoyed an increase in royalties by 13% and 8% respectively. Our successful investment in the eClips and ClipShare services took the total number of articles included to over 95 million. We signed six new national agreements with companies in France, Sweden, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg.
As we look forward to 2017 and the new financial year, I am pleased that Tim Brooks will give us his guidance for three more years as the Chairman of NLA. His strong leadership has been invaluable during this period of exciting but important change for the business, and will ensure we continue to focus on our core purpose: delivering high-quality content quickly and efficiently to those who value it, while protecting the intellectual property of those who produce it.
Henry Jones,
Managing Director, NLA media access