The chief financial and operating officer of Guardian Media Group is to move to the same role at Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Keith Underwood will succeed group finance director Penny Scott-Bayfield, who recently decided to step down to pursue a portfolio career after seven years in the role.
Underwood, a former interim CEO at The Guardian, will join Bloomsbury on 2nd February 2026. Before joining GMG in 2020, he worked at Channel 4 as CFO and COO and spent more than eight years on the executive committee of the broadcaster. He has also worked at Discovery Networks International, Sky and PwC.
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Underwood is a board member of Digital Catapult, the digital technology innovation organisation which helps businesses grow by applying advanced digital technology. He has previously served as chairman of Freeview and a board director of Digital UK and YouView.
In the year to 28th February – Bloomsbury’s pre-tax profit fell 22% to £32.5m, although revenue grew 5% to £361m.
“I am greatly looking forward to working with Keith and benefiting from his significant media, finance, operations and AI expertise,” said Nigel Newton, founder & chief executive of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
“He joins as Bloomsbury grasps the huge opportunity of artificial intelligence, licensing content for significant future revenue while increasing operational efficiency. Keith has the perfect experience to help deliver these ambitions for Bloomsbury and its shareholders.
“Penny Scott-Bayfield has been a wonderful colleague, I thank her for her huge contribution to Bloomsbury and shall miss her greatly.”
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Underwood said: “Bloomsbury has achieved hugely impressive growth with an increasingly diversified, high-quality portfolio distributed across more geographies, in more formats than ever before.
“In a dynamic media market, with rapid technological transformation, I look forward to working as part of the Bloomsbury team to harness new opportunities and deliver sustained success in the years ahead.”