Magazine group points to restructuring bill but says it ‘remains profitable in the UK for another year’

Profits at Condé Nast’s UK arm slumped by more than a third last year, according to figures published shortly after the billionaire family that owns the luxury magazine group and titles from Vogue to GQ ruled out a sale.

The publisher, which enjoyed a bumper 2024 after booking £64m in proceeds from the sale of its UK headquarters Vogue House in London, saw pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items tumble 36% from £28m that year to nearly £18m last year.

The former British Vogue editor-in-chief and author on a romantic kiss on a traffic island, her school-run regrets, and a very expensive nude

Born in London, Alexandra Shulman, 68, studied social anthropology at the University of Sussex. She was a secretary at Over 21 magazine and, in the early 80s, became a journalist at Tatler. In 1990, she was made editor of British GQ and, from 1992 to 2017, she was editor‑in‑chief of British Vogue. For her contribution to fashion journalism, she was awarded both an OBE and a CBE. Her books include novels and the bestselling memoir, Clothes … and Other Things That Matter. A collection of essays, Black Coffee and Red Lipstick: Notes on Living, is out now. She is married for the second time, has a son and lives in London.

When were you happiest?
Anytime that I’m lying in the sun next to a swimming pool with a good book.