Brownlie hangs up his boots after 24 years

Keith Brownlie has been with Informa for many years and was one of the founding Directors of Lloyd’s of London Press. He was a member of the management team that bought out Lloyds of London Press from the Corporation of Lloyds of London which led to flotation on the London Stock Market and the following year to the merger with IBC and thus to the formation of Informa.

Brownlie spent most of his time in HR and he was appointed CR Director for Informa PLC in January 2005. He also holds the role of Group HR Advisor to Informa, a Board position for the 8500 staff, employed in 52 countries. Brownlie also worked in Operations in Conferences and Customer Services.

Brownlie is known throughout Informa for his infectious humour and his incredible memory for names (not) will be sorely missed. The Brownlie legacy will live on as his daughter Fiona works for Informa in Zug, Switzerland.

Brownlie was previously with Xerox, the Document Company, where he held a number of Staff and Line Roles. He holds a Masters Degree in Organisational Psychology from Leeds and a Business Degree from Newcastle.

It has been announced that Emma Blaney, currently HR Director of IBI, has been appointed as Group HR Director effective from 1 January 2011.

Ms Blaney has worked for Informa for 10 years and is currently based in IBI’s New York offices. Ms Blaney will move with her family to be based in Group Headquarters Zug, Switzerland and begin her handover with Brownlie in January 2011.

After graduating from Surrey University, Ms Blaney worked overseas. On her return to the UK she was appointed as the Managing Editor of the Neilson Ski Magazine. In 1999 Emma moved to David Lloyd Leisure, a division of Whitbread plc and was soon identified to manage projects in their Group HR function. Her projects included writing a new company handbook and setting up and managing an employment law helpline for staff and managers. During this time Ms Blaney successfully attained her CIPD, passing with Distinction.

In 2001 Ms Blaney joined the Informa Group as HR Manager for the Informa Professional Division. Over the years she has worked her way up through the Informa ranks and progressively managed the HR function for the Professional, Telecoms and Media, PJB, Healthcare and IBI Divisions. In 2009 Ms Blaney accepted the opportunity to relocate to IBI’s New York office.

In 2003 Ms Blaney attained a second Masters in Human Resources Management and became accredited in a number of psychometric testing systems.

In 2005 Ms Blaney was invited to join the Personnel Today, HR Directors Club Advisory Board and also sat on the Training Advisory Board of the PPA.