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Our history
In May 1993, a group of four, led by Janet Dignan and Ian Richman, created Cross-Border Publishing (later renamed Cross Border) with two other outside investors. The group's sole publication at the time was Investor Relations magazine which was published six times a year; it also held an annual IR Magazine Awards event in London. Dignan was already the editor of Investor Relations magazine, which she had launched while at The Economist Group in 1988; Richman was the magazine's sales director.
1994-1996
Investor Relations magazine upped its frequency to ten times a year and the business is ready for a new challenge. By now the magazine's market is expanding strongly in the US, Richman makes frequent business trips to New York, and it is clearly time for a physical presence in Manhattan. In March 1995, our New York office based in Wall Street opens its doors. The following year the first Investor Relations Magazine US Awards are launched.
1996-2001
The next five years see dramatic growth. By 2000 we are holding awards and conferences in Australia, Canada, the Eurozone, Hong Kong, the Nordic Region, South Africa, the UK and the US. Investor Relations magazine, by now a monthly, undergoes a change and is renamed IR magazine and also sports two editions one for the North American market and another for the rest of the world. These changes at the magazine underscore not only the rise of the IR profession, but also the importance of shareholder communications in the business world.
2001-2004
Despite the economic downturn in 2001, the company continued going for growth in its product range. Between 2001 and 2005 a string of new IR and non-IR events are launched: an annual IR conference in China; a leading edge conference in London called Climate of Change: Companies, carbon and the bottom line; combined awards and conferences in Ireland, Russia, and Central & Eastern Europe; and an awards event in Brazil.
In addition, the conference division launched a new event strand in the form of high-level invitation-only think tanks. Investor relations officers and/or corporate secretaries and governance professionals from major companies are brought together to thrash out topical issues in the knowledge that their words will not be quoted outside the forum’s walls.
On the publishing side, two new magazines are launched: Corporate Secretary, for governance professionals, corporate secretaries and corporate counsel in North America; and CorpComms, for corporate affairs and corporate communications executives in Europe. The readers of IR magazine also benefit from a weekly electronic newsletter, IR Magazine Week, that brings them up to date with all relevant breaking news in their region. The European Annual Report and IR Web Site Yearbook, is published at the end of each year.
2004-Current
Throughout its existence, Cross Border has also offered publishing and event management services to its clients. These have included newsletters, magazines, seminars and workshops: in short, everything we do in our own name, we are also happy to do for clients on a bespoke basis. And when we undertake such projects for clients, we treat them as we would our own products, taking pride in producing publications and services of the highest possible quality.
The future is clear for Cross Border. Like our products, our name will continue to be synonymous with top-quality standards and high-level benchmarks. We intend to continue to meet the changing needs of our professional audiences everywhere. To achieve this we will strive to understand our audience; to help inform them through conferences and think tanks; to innovate to meet their information and networking needs; and to celebrate their success with award events based on comprehensive, independent research.