Scott Trust Limited

The Scott Trust Limited is the British company that owns Guardian Media Group and thus The Guardian and The Observer as well as various other media businesses in the UK. In 2008, it replaced the Scott Trust, which had owned The Guardian since 1936.

The company is responsible for appointing the editor of The Guardian (and those of the group's other main newspapers) but, apart from enjoining them to continue the paper's editorial policy on "the same lines and in the same spirit as heretofore", it has a policy of not interfering in their decisions. The arrangement tends to give editors a long tenure: for example, the last incumbent, Alan Rusbridger, held the position from 1995 until 2015.

The current chairman of the Scott Trust Board is Ole Jacob Sunde,[1] who replaced Alex Graham in 2021. Other board members include the current editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, Guardian legal affairs correspondent Haroon Siddique who is the journalist director of the board, and one member of the Scott family.[2]

The Scott Trust is a limited partner in GMG Ventures LP, founded in 2017,[3] according to the GMG 2018 annual report, "this £42m venture capital fund is designed to contribute financial returns and to support GMG’s strategy by investing in early stage businesses focused on developing the next generation of media technology".[4]

  1. ^ Jackson, Jasper (22 September 2016). "Alex Graham appointed as seventh chair of the Scott Trust". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  2. ^ "The Scott Trust board". The Guardian. 26 July 2015. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  3. ^ "About Guardian Media Group". The Guardian. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) results for the financial year ended 1 April 2018". The Guardian. 24 July 2018.