About Us

General Manager

Alex Smith joined Are Direct Pty Limited in March 2011. Alex brings 25 years of experience in the magazine & newspaper industry (UK and Australia). Alex joined Are Direct Pty Limited as Client Services Manager, was promoted to Head of Client and Retailer Services in April 2013 and became General Manager in January 2023. Alex has a BA (Hons) degree in Business Administration.

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Commercial Manager

Avril Holden is Commercial Manager for Are Direct Pty Limited Australia and New Zealand and is responsible for the financial operations across both markets.

Avril joined the business in January 2011 as Financial Controller for the Scribo Group before moving to the role of Financial Controller for Are Direct Pty Limited in August 2011. She was appointed as Commercial Manager in June 2013.

Prior to joining Are Direct Pty Limited, she held various positions with the fashion group M. Webster Holdings Pty Ltd. Avril holds a bachelor's degree in Economics (Accounting) and is a Member of the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia.

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Head of IT and Business Systems

Since joining Are Direct Pty Limited in 1997, Poppy has worked across a number of departments, including but not limited to Allocations, Client Services, Business Improvement and Project Management, giving her extensive knowledge and experience in many areas of the business.

Currently Poppy and her team are responsible for both IT systems and the provision of a process improvement advisory and implementation service to deliver improved efficiency, simplicity and transparency across Are Direct Pty Limited business processes.

Poppy has a university degree in Mathematics, with a double major in Statistics and Operations Research.

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Client Services Manager

Chris joined Are Direct Pty Limited in 2012 heading up the management of the International Import and Partworks business, was promoted to Client Services Manager in 2015 and then Data & Operations manager in 2023.

Prior to this Chris worked for a major UK Distributor managing key magazine publishing clients. Since joining Are Direct Pty Limited Chris has been instrumental in the renewal of major contracts as well as ongoing enhancements of Are Direct’s retail allocation and BI reporting system. Chris’ role encompasses championing and driving performance of data analytic solutions and insights across Are Direct as well as managing Are Media Client Services team as well as the Allocation team and the National Contact Centre.

Chris has a BA (Hons) degree in Business Studies & Marketing.

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Head Buyer - TheMarketHub

Gabriel is highly respected within the magazine, toy and gift industry, with 33+ years magazine and media industry experience in Australia and internationally.

Gabriel has held various senior management roles in this time responsible for driving key strategies to grow circulation revenues, working alongside publishers, distributors, editors, circulation, marketing and procurement.

Currently, Gabriel is the head buyer for TheMarketHub B2B business and manages the relationships with all TMH suppliers.

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Operations Manager

Leigh Verity was appointed Operations Manager of Are Direct Pty Limited in October 2017.

Leigh started his career in the Magazine Industry at Southdown Press in Melbourne in 1990. He has since worked across various roles within Publishing, Distribution and Retail. Leigh returned to Are Direct in March 2016 to manage the retail department and our key relationships with the newsagents and key accounts.

Over the 31 years in the industry, Leigh has taken two breaks to further his skills in project Management at OneSteel, and Telstra where he managed two Retail Stores in NSW.

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