Fiktiv UK - Guardian Media Group

Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British based mass media company owning various media operations including The Guardian and The Observer. The group is wholly owned by Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity.

The company was founded as the Manchester Guardian Ltd. in 1907 when C. P. Scott bought the Manchester Guardian (founded in 1821) from the estate of his cousin Edward Taylor.

It became the Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd when it bought out the Manchester Evening News in 1924, later becoming the Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd to reflect the change in the morning paper's title. It adopted its current name in 1993.

In March 2007 GMG sold 49.9% of Trader Media Group to Apax Partners, in a deal that valued Trader Media Group at £1.35 billion. In December 2007 it was announced that GMG and Apax had made a successful bid to buy Emap's business-to-business arm for around £1 billion.

In February 2010, the group sold its GMG Regional Media division (consisting of two companies MEN Media and S&B Media which operated 31 local and regional newspaper titles) to Trinity Mirror for £44.8 million. The sale ended the historic connection between The Guardian and Manchester as the sale of the Manchester Evening News was included in the package. The division's local television station for Greater Manchester, Channel M, and two newspapers in Woking were not included in the sale.

In January 2014, GMG disposed of its remaining interest in Trader Media Group.

In March 2014, That's TV acquired Channel M from Guardian Media Group plc.

In October 2017, the Guardian Media Group reported a plan to launch a new £42 million venture capital fund. That plan was consummated, making the Scott Trust a limited partner in GMG Ventures LP. 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".

GMG’s core business is Guardian News & Media Limited, publisher of theguardian.com, and The Guardian and The Observer newspapers. Guardian News & Media was formed as Guardian Newspapers Limited in 1967, adopting its present name in 2006.

The group has a portfolio of investments to help support its journalism. They comprise:
Ascential: an international business-to-business digital intelligence and events business.
GMG Property Services: a provider of software, technology and design solutions to the property industry.
An externally managed investment fund.

Guardian Media Group exists to support the core purpose of its owner, Scott Trust Limited: to secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity, but in the 2011/12 year the group lost £75.6 million, and for the three years up to June 2012, the paper itself lost £100,000 a day - leading Intelligent Life magazine to question whether The Guardian can survive. In 2014, The Guardian launched a membership scheme, aiming to avoid introducing a paywall and maintaining open access to the website. As of 2018 this approach was considered successful, having brought more than 1 million subscriptions or donations, with the paper hoping to break even by April 2019, a goal they achieved in May 2019.