Terry Mansfield, the former CEO at National Magazines, has had many accolades over the past two weeks, since news of his death, a victim of the Covid-19 virus, on 28 March was released.
He was best known for his work with major consumer titles such as Harpers & Queen and Cosmopolitan, what is less well know was that he was a great supporter of Containerisation International (CI) which was launched in 1967 when the container industry itself was still in its embryonic stages.
One of Terry’s key attributes was, according to CI’s iconic former editor Jane Boyes, that even though he was more used to the glamorous end of the publishing business he was able to enter the nuts and bolts world of trade too.
“Determined to learn more about the container business, he accompanied the CI team to what was in the late 1980s the industry’s premier gathering, Intermodal Expo, in Atlanta, and was impressed by the sheer scale and reach of the market, said Jane Boyes.
“His publishing background was in upmarket, glamorous women’s magazines,” added Boyes, “so he thought it quite appropriate that CI should celebrate its 20th anniversary with a lavish party at London’s V&A Museum, complete with the band of the Royal Marines and a guest list that included the container industry’s top talent from around the world.”
Away from the glitz and the dazzling glare of high-profile magazines Boyes also describes a man that understood publishing.
“Despite coming from an advertising background, Terry Mansfield recognised the contribution of strong, independent editorial to the commercial success of business to business publications,” said Boyes, who carried on that tradition at CI throughout her 35 years at the magazine.
“In the case of CI and its associated titles, Terry saw to it that National Magazine Co invested relatively heavily in an experienced writing team, with a budget that enabled its in-house journalists to provide authoritative coverage of the then expanding container shipping business.”
It was that profound understanding of the business that led, ultimately, to sale of CI from the National Magazine Company to Emap in the early 1990’s. According to Peter Owen, another contemporary of Mansfield and currently director at PR firm Portcare International, said, “The catalyst came when we asked how do we grow the business?”
Owen explained he looked at the data in the yearbook and recognised that the information was ripe for digitalisation through an investment in a database.
“He understood that for a relatively modest £250,000 investment the business could be developed,” explained Owen, “but he also recognised that the National Magazine Company was not the right publishing house for that development.”
It was Mansfield through his connections with Colin Morrison at Emap that saw the transition for CI that led to the birth of ci-online, news and data for the container industry that was among the first of its kind in the world.
If Malcom Maclean was the father of containerisation then Mansfield was the patriarch of modern maritime reporting. In the 50 years of CI that tradition was the cornerstone that the successful B2B magazine was built on. Those traditions are carried forward with pride through a number of maritime publications that transitioned into informed, independent and powerful journalism.
Terry Mansfield CBE, 81, is survived by his wife, Helen, two daughters, Victoria and Anna, and their respective families.
Nick Savvides
Managing Editor
