Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
- Why Peter Pan was right as I head straight on to the morn - September 1, 2026
- A welcome (and an absence) in the hillsides as I come home again to Wales - July 24, 2026
- How Mitti Café serves up love as well as the best Chai in Bengaluru - July 12, 2026
I guess Peter Pan was right
Growing up’s a waste of time
So I think I’ll fly away
Set a course for brighter days
Find the second star, I’m soarin’
And then straight on to the morn’
I know that I’ll be fine
’Cause I know Peter Pan was right
– Peter Pan Was Right, Anson Seabra
And so September is upon us. The first of the month falls precisely 15 days before the day in September 2002 that I launched my new company as The Moodie Report.
Where did those years go? I am proud and, I confess, nostalgic as I look back at them.
Did I really venture out on my own from my former role as Managing Director of Duty-Free News International on little more (I can admit that now) than a wing and a prayer?
To be fair, both the wing and the prayer were accompanied by a belief that digital publishing, then more in the womb than in its infancy, could triumph over the print giants of the time – including the fine title I had just left. After all, the internet would always beat the postman, wouldn’t it?
From a six-page pdf to where we are today, a clear and distancing market leader in travel retail B2B publishing and (I promise I am not alone in this view nor being boastful) one of the world’s most influential business titles. What a journey it has been.
And today, another phase of that sojourn begins. Not quite the denouement perhaps but the beginning of a lingering and I hope enjoyable transition.
For today, 1 September, I announce the relinquishment of my CEO responsibilities for family and personal reasons. I will retain, I emphasise, my beloved moniker of Founder & Chairman but will oversee a handover of most of my day-to-day responsibilities to my long-time (as in 30 years) colleague and friend Dermot Davitt by 1 October.
In his new and expanded role as President & CEO, Dermot will manage the company through the next phase of its development, in conjunction with our fine parent company since September 2024, Mark Allen Group (acquisitions are never easy but this one has been almost seamless, much to the credit of Mark and Ben Allen).
Dermot will be supported in a mighty management triumvirate (hey, let’s call it a Trinity, a title I invented way back in 2003) by Publisher Irene Revilla who assumes the additional title of Managing Director, and Matt Willey, a constant source of innovation since joining in March 2007.
Reflecting his outstanding qualities, strengths and commitment, Matt now becomes Chief Technology & Creative Officer.
A quality international line-up comprising an Irishman, a Spaniard and an Englishman. Sounds like the opening to a joke but we are very serious in our own self-deprecating way about what this trio will bring to The Moodie Davitt Report.
I will remain very much involved, running our Asia Pacific operations, our acclaimed Moodie Davitt STUDIO operation and generally causing the internal combination of creativity and chaos that has been a hallmark of the past 20 years.
So when the shadows lengthen
Into an evening sun
First there’s summer, then I’ll let you in
September when it comes
– Rosanne Cash, September when it comes
September 1 has further dual resonance for me. For, as has now belatedly become public knowledge, I am grappling with a foe that came back to visit me precisely six months ago after a 15-year absence. You know its name and I do not wish to dwell on it here.
I need to focus instead on kicking that foe exactly as my brave, brilliant and beautiful daughter Sinead tried so hard to do after her diagnosis with Stage 4 NUT Carcinoma lung cancer little over a year ago.
We lost Sinead precisely seven months ago and so today seems particularly apposite timing to step away from at least my mainstream role at The Moodie Davitt Report. But not from the intensely intimate relationship with the company I founded and which I love.
And so, in the words of the Anson Seabra song I like very much and with which I started this post:
I think I’ll fly away
Set a course for brighter days
Find the second star, I’m soarin’
And then straight on to the morn. ✈