Editors prefer to report the news rather than make it – but it was outgoing BEST Magazine chief Gerry Woolf who made headlines last week, as he bade farewell to battery industry fans and critics alike at the European Lead Battery Conference (ELBC) in Vienna.
Gerry announced he was stepping down as editor-in-chief of Batteries & Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Magazine and BEST Battery Briefing after more than 20 years of running his UK-based company, Energy Storage Publishing (ESP).
But as the titles continue to go from strength to strength, Gerry formally handed over to the new team at the helm – editor-in-chief John Shepherd, sales director David Beckett and production director Vic Giles.
Gerry will continue as non-executive chairman of ESP in the near future and continue to work with business partner Jill Ledger on their international public relations consultancy Ledger & Woolf.
“It’s not quite retirement but it’s time to turn a page and ESP’s titles now have a new ‘BEST’ team at the helm to write the next chapters of the batteries industry,” Gerry said.
Mark Stevenson of Australia’s Global Lead Technologies, who chaired one of the ELBC sessions in Vienna, publicly thanked Gerry for his service to the industry. “He’s always been at the front of conference hall, wherever they’ve been held, and challenged us all with his questions and for that I thank him,” Stevenson said to applause from the hall.
Gerry is pictured at ELBC with sales director David Beckett (left) and technical editor Dr Mike McDonagh.
