LONDON — Arun Sudhaman has been promoted to chief executive officer at The Holmes Group, parent company of The Holmes Report and the SABRE Awards, responsible for day-to-day management of the company. Founder Paul Holmes will become chair of the Group, and—after a three-month transition period—will return to journalism full-time.

Sudhaman joined The Holmes Report as partner and managing editor in 2010, was promoted to editor-in-chief in 2014, and has been president of The Holmes Group since January 2016.

He has led a comprehensive relaunch of the company’s content platform, including its digital presence and new products including the Influence 100 list of senior in-house communicators, the Global Communications Report, the annual Creativity in PR study, and the Echo Chamber podcast. He has also played a pivotal role expanding the Holmes Report’s coverage into Asia-Pacific and other regions, and helping to steer its worldwide events presence.

"In seven years, Arun has helped to transform The Holmes Group from a company based in the traditional print publishing world to a multi-channel business that produces a wide range of digital content, some of the industry’s most provocative events, and the world’s largest PR awards program,” says Holmes. "His contribution to our success cannot be overstated, and I am certain that he is the right person to expand our product portfolio and geographic footprint, and to oversee the continued evolution of our business."

In his new role, Holmes will focus primarily on long-form journalism, producing insightful articles that analyze the issues, challenges and opportunities facing the business and the practice of public relations. Many of those articles will appear as part of The Holmes Report’s new "Premium Content" offer, available exclusively to subscribers, which launches today with three new Longreads:

The Premium Content section also houses numerous other longreads, analyses and profiles that the Holmes Report has produced in recent years.

"The public relations business is facing new challenges from other professions, from advertising and digital marketing agencies to management consulting firms," says Sudhaman. "The media landscape is in turmoil, with ‘fake news’ creating a crisis of credibility. The world in which we live is entering a new era of uncertainty. There has never been a more important time for the kind of considered, insightful journalism that explores the broader issues facing this profession — and there's little doubt that Paul Holmes is the best in the business at producing this."

In addition to the new roles for Sudhaman and Holmes and the launch of the Premium Content section of the site, The Holmes Report is confirming and announcing several additional changes:

  • Aarti Shah, who joined The Holmes Report’s editorial team in 2013, has transitioned to a new role as head of strategic partnerships, responsible for business development and for ensuring that Holmes Report advertisers and sponsors receive maximum benefit from their partnerships;
  • Jade Eckardt is joining The Holmes Report as senior reporter, based in New York and reporting to Sudhaman. Eckardt has more than eight years experience as a journalist, writing for outlets such as USA Today and Thomson Reuters, and will look to expand our coverage beyond the PR industry amid considerable collision with other disciplines.
  • In the summer of 2017, Sudhaman will relocate from London back to Hong Kong, where he will focus much of his time on building The Holmes Report’s business in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to joining The Holmes Report, Sudhaman spent more than five years covering the Asia-Pacific marketing and communications industries with Campaign Asia-Pacific, and had lived in the region for almost 30 years.