Open letter to partners and customers from our CEO, Ruairí Doyle

Hi everyone,

It brings me great joy to introduce myself as PressReader’s new Chief Executive Officer. As you read this letter, our incredible people and technologies are hard at work processing tens of millions of pages from our more than 10,000 publications we partner with; our systems are powering a vast array of mobile apps and websites for content creators in more than 120 countries; and our unique network of business partners is bringing that content to millions of readers worldwide. As PressReader’s new CEO, I am honored to take this opportunity to advance our commitment to empowering and enriching curious minds and bringing a universe of quality content within reach. Getting to do this alongside you, our incredible partners and customers, makes every day special.

As I embark on this journey, I would like to start by thanking Alexander Kroogman for the work he has done as PressReader’s CEO. As many of you know, Alex has been at the helm of this company since co-founding it in 1999 as NewspaperDirect which sought to give global travelers access to their favorite hometown newspapers anywhere in an increasingly globalized world. Under his leadership, PressReader has scaled into an industry-leading company employing more than 500 people across our offices in Canada, Ireland, the Philippines, and the United States, and serving our valued business partners and customers globally from 150 countries. I couldn’t be more pleased that Alex will remain with PressReader as Executive Director of the Board. As someone who thrives on collaboration, I look forward to calling on the experience and expertise of the people who got PressReader this far.

I first became familiar with the PressReader Group of Companies as a Branded Editions customer, when I worked for a national publisher in Ireland. However, my personal PressReader journey really began in my hometown of Dublin over five years ago when I came on board as General Manager to establish the company’s EMEA office. A couple of years later, I transitioned to PressReader’s Vancouver HQ to take on the role of Vice President, Product —which brought me closer to my product and engineering roots—and then that of Senior Vice President, Product & Operations to oversee wider business transformation.

During my time with the company, I have seen PressReader evolve and grow significantly. We have doubled down on our efforts to continually improve our products and refine the solutions that we provide to our partners and customers across different verticals, from libraries and education to transportation and hospitality. While we, along with the rest of the world, have also been challenged by a global pandemic, we are emerging on the other side with renewed determination and growth momentum, though remaining cautious in these uncertain economic times.

As CEO, my responsibility is to ensure that PressReader keeps on growing, in a way that is both profitable and sustainable. Our promise to you is that we will continue to innovate and deliver the best technologies, services and solutions that anticipate and meet the needs of our brand and publishing partners as well as the end users. Bringing readers the content they love and trust in a sustainable, lucrative way for publishers, and ensuring a bright future for quality journalism is also, in my opinion, one of PressReader’s most important goals.

On a personal note, moreover, my intention is to keep learning along the way. In my estimation, the surest way I can do that is to actively listen, and remain approachable to our customers and the stellar PressReader team who are equally dedicated to delivering innovative solutions and more value to our ecosystem of content creators, content consumers and business partners.

The year 2022 marks the 23rd anniversary of PressReader. Thank you for your trust and partnership on this journey as we keep developing more and more innovative ways to enrich and empower curious minds. The first 23 years were just a warmup!

Thank you for taking time to read my thoughts. We would love to hear how we’ve been doing when supporting and serving you. Please feel free to connect with me via LinkedIn.

I wish you, your families and teams good health.

Best regards,
Ruairí Doyle,
Chief Executive Officer, PressReader Group of Companies