Doug Wills, chair of London Press Club and Editor Emeritus of the London Standard, has been elected Master of The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers Livery Company. He was installed at a traditional ceremony in Stationers’ Hall in front of 180 of his fellow Stationers, friends and family.
Doug Wills said: “I am honoured and proud to have been chosen. There has seldom been a more critical time for the media with seismic changes taking place with AI and social media. It will be hugely important for the Company – with its heritage in literature and print going back more than 600 years – to spotlight and influence opportunities and challenges for the future of journalism and publishing.”
Doug was previously Managing Editor of the Evening Standard for 15 years. He started his career as an apprentice journalist with Thomson Regional Newspapers in Berkshire before moving to London to join the Mirror Group helping to launch the London Daily News as Assistant Editor (production).
Doug is a former President of the Society of Editors and remains a board member and is treasurer of the Society. Doug last year consolidated his 30-year commitment to Rotary International by becoming President of the Rotary Club of London in 2024-25 and is a Rotary International representative for the Commonwealth.
Doug joined the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers in 2012. He is an avid supporter of the Stationers’ Foundation’s bursaries for courses for the training of aspiring publishers and journalists. He also launched an Editorial Diversity Apprenticeship Scheme, a partnership between the London Standard and the Stationers and Newspaper Makers’ Company. It is still running today and has brought many young people into the profession and the Stationers.
Together with his consort, Elisabeth Reyes, Doug is looking forward to representing the Company in the City of London and across the content and communications industries.
