Casey has write stuff

The Friday Interview:It's a warm, sunny April morning and Norah Casey's office at Harmonia publications is like a sauna, even with the fan on full tilt. "We're moving to new offices in Dundrum shortly and we can't wait," she says. "We're very squashed here . . . if you go to the toilet, there's a very good chance somebody will be sitting at your desk when you get back. So new premises will give us some growth potential."

The offices were acquired by Casey and her husband Richard Hannaford for €3.3 million, just one sign of the impressive progress that Harmonia and Casey have made since the management buyout (MBO) in 2004 of Smurfit Communications.

Among other things, Harmonia staff will have a garden in their new home, the type of perk you'd expect the staff of U magazine, Irish Tatler and Woman's Way to enjoy. "People who are creative like to have their own individual spaces," Casey said.

Casey herself could do with a bigger office to house the growing number of awards that keep coming her way. Last year she was named publisher of the year by the Periodical Publishers Association of Ireland. Earlier this month she went one better by being chosen as the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year.

Previous winners include Moya Doherty of Riverdance fame. Casey will now represent Ireland at an international ceremony in France in October. "It's really nice to win it and a surprise, too, but it doesn't make any difference to the business. If you set out to win awards, you wouldn't focus too much on your business."

By her own admission, Casey is "incredibly driven" and loves to work hard. When Jefferson Smurfit was taken off the stock market by Madison Dearborn and the company decided that its publishing business was no longer a core asset, Casey and her husband decided to buy the Irish part of the publishing business. "We'd always hoped to get the chance to do an MBO."

The price was never disclosed, although reports suggested that it was somewhere between €1 million and €5 million. The deal involved not just an upfront payment but a lock-in for certain periods for printing and office rental. These have now unwound and Casey expects the company to really kick on from here.

Having been set up in September 2004, Harmonia reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €66,000 in the 16 months to the end of 2005.

This rose sharply to €500,000 in 2006, boosted by the addition of a number of contract titles, including a magazine for the Dundrum Town Centre, the official programme for the Ryder Cup and magazines for the Health Service Executive, Dublin Bus, An Post, McDonald's and Cadbury.

"The [ consumer] magazines had been through a tough time and it is incredibly expensive and difficult to launch new titles. Contract publishing was the best way to grow the bottom line. We literally went after every piece of business in the market."

Harmonia has now turned its focus to its glossy, consumer titles for women. The monthly U magazine, its flagship title, will be relaunched in mid-June as a fortnightly product. Casey has set aside a budget of €250,000 for the relaunch, which will include television and outdoor advertising and a reduction in the cover price from its current level of €1.95.

The magazine is aimed at 18- to 27-year-old women and is the second-biggest selling Irish glossy. The competition from Britain, however, is intense, with Casey listing Grazia, Look, Now and New as rivals. "We're unfortunate in a way that our biggest neighbour speaks the same language."

U sold 42,141 copies a month in 2006 and Casey is hoping this level of circulation can now be achieved every two weeks. "The loyalty to U is very strong. Our research shows that about 85 per cent of readers are buying the magazine in the first two weeks [of it being on the shelves]. We're hoping to convert the remaining 15 per cent."

Harmonia spent a similar sum last year, giving Woman's Way a new look to try and stem years of decline. Woman's Way shifted 26,442 copies a week in 2006. This compares with a circulation of more than 31,500 about three years ago.

Harmonia also publishes Irish Tatler, the grandmother of glossy women's magazines, having first appeared in 1890. Other consumer titles include Eatout, Food & Wine and Auto Ireland.

It's an interesting mix and offers the type of variety that Casey has always sought in her career. She grew up in the Phoenix Park, where her father was a ranger. "I used to spend most of my days in Dublin zoo," she recalls. "It was my first job and I think I fed the first two baby gorillas in the zoo."

At the age of 17, she decided it was time to fly the nest. A friend was training as a nurse in Scotland and Casey decided to try her hand at it, possibly influenced by the fact that her mother was a nurse. "I saw it as a great opportunity to get out of staying at home," she says. "It suited me because you worked incredibly hard but it was also great fun."

A year spent working in a burns and plastic surgery unit and the realisation that she "wasn't going to go anywhere fast" in the profession led her to seek a change in career. At the age of 23, Casey packed her bags and headed to London to work for the Royal College of Nursing in a media role. "I was the nice, acceptable face of the organisation."

Within two years she had a column in the Guardian newspaper and shift work on Sky television followed. That was in addition to a career in medical publishing. Casey was also gathering journalism qualifications in the UK "like they were going out of fashion" and studied strategic management at Ashbridge Management College.

In 1998, Casey joined the Irish Post in London as editor, which was part of the Smurfit UK stable. By 2001, she was running both that business and Smurfit's publishing arm in Ireland. Running Smurfit's UK and Irish businesses meant splitting her time between Dublin and London.

In 2002, she decided to move back to Dublin with her family and now has sole control of the company.

It's a tough business, especially as the UK glossy magazines have deep pockets. "We think there's a huge amount of growth potential in the Irish market," Casey says. "As long as you keep focusing on Irish content. We do very strong covers and a boring thing called managing our supply chain."

On the Record

Name:Norah Casey.

Born:1960.

Position:Chief executive of publisher Harmonia.

Family:Married to Richard, they have one son

Career:Worked for Smurfit publications from 1998 when she joined the London-based Irish Post as editor until August 2004 when she led a management buyout of Smurfit Communications. Prior to Smurfit, she worked in medical publishing after starting her media career with the Royal College of Nursing in London.

Something that might surprise:Qualified as a nurse in Scotland and is also chair of the mayor of London's St Patrick's Day Festival.

Some things you might expect:Is a board member of Dublin City University's educational trust and founding member of the Women's Irish Network in London.

Outside interests:She likes golf. Busy schedule means spare time is usually spent with family.

Why in the news?Earlier this month won the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award. She is also plotting relaunch of U, Harmonia's flagship title.