Eric started work as an ad salesman at Haymarket in February 1976 after ‘wasting an idyllic three years at Oxford’. He became a director four years later and took responsibility for the consumer division in 1990. During that time, Haymarket became market leader in the motoring sector through acquisitions and launches such as Autocar, Classic & Sports Car – and, more recently, PistonHeads – which joined stalwarts such as What Car? and Autosport. Haymarket also established itself as a major player in exhibitions and customer publishing. Eric took over as Managing Director of the Haymarket Group in May 2000 and worked with the new Chairman, Michael Heseltine, to expand it both internationally and into the digital arena. By the time Eric stood down as Managing Director in 2009 Haymarket could claim to have become the most diverse publishing group in the UK, with market-leading and multi-platform positions in the business, consumer, exhibitions and customer publishing sectors as well as having more than 100 licensed titles overseas and subsidiaries on five continents. After leaving Haymarket in 2010, Eric spent a year working to restructure the publishing trade association, the PPA, which resulted in the appointment of Barry McIlheney the current CEO. In 2012 Eric became Chairman of Emissions Analytics with Nick Molden as CEO, another ex Haymarket employee. It now operates in both the UK and USA. He launched Evro Publishing Ltd in 2013 in partnership with Mark Hughes, previously editorial director of Haynes Publishing. Evro has published books with Sir Stirling Moss, John Surtees as well as Brian Redman whose book won the prestigious Royal Automobile Club Book of the Year in 2016.