Simon Read

Chief Executive Officer
Signposter.com

Simon was responsible for overseeing every aspect of the development and March 2009 launch of Signposter.com, and is now managing the business through the next phases of its lifecycle.  Since launch, the Signposter.com service has firmly placed itself at the heart of conversation in the small and medium enterprise (SME) business world, and over 1000 billboards have been booked through the site to date.  Over 260 businesses every week are signing up to the Signposter.com site.

Prior to taking Signposter.com from initial concept through to launch, Simon worked in both media owner and agency advertising and communications businesses.  He began his career as a Media Planner / Buyer, rising to Media Manager at PHD. Nominated for Campaign Magazine's Faces to Watch and Media

Week's 30 under 30, Simon was responsible for over £80m of media billings for brands such as Pizza Hut, Yellow Pages, 02 and Volvo.

In order to expand his understanding of e-commerce and the growing digital arena, in 2001 Simon moved to be Head of Strategy at Optimad Media Systems, the first online media trading platform in the UK, raising £5m in venture capital funding.  

Following a takeover Simon left Optimad to form his own company, Quay Sites, which manages and sells the UK's most upmarket outdoor advertising inventory in yacht clubs and marinas, growing this start-up from a single panel in a single location to in excess of 200 sites, and diversifying the portfolio to include publishing and events.  The business is now firmly established as a must have on outdoor schedules for brands such as Oakley, RNLI, British Airways and Ford.  

He then moved to be Managing Director and part owner of the Press Gazette, the journalists' trade magazine, becoming one of the few remaining Fleet Street publishers with Piers Morgan before taking a position as Board Director at Freud Communications.  During his time at Press Gazette Simon agreed a ground-breaking deal with Sky TV to broadcast the British Press Awards for the first time in its 30 year history as well as successfully launching the Magazine Design and Journalism Awards.

Simon is a keen sailor having both Powerboat and Yacht Master qualifications as well as a regular skier and Alpine Guide.

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