BusinessDesk announces appointment of Victoria Young as Editor

New Zealand’s leading business news website, BusinessDesk, has appointed Victoria Young as the new Editor, New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) announced today.

Victoria will replace Pattrick Smellie, who will become Founding Editor in a writing and news-breaking role.

With a professional career spanning New Zealand, Singapore, and London, Young has been with BusinessDesk since 2019, initially as a senior reporter before taking on the role of investigations editor in 2022 and has been instrumental in BusinessDesk, under NZME ownership since January 2022, growing as this country’s premium business news brand.

Murray Kirkness, NZME Chief Content Officer says: “Victoria is an extremely capable, talented journalist, and has already demonstrated excellent leadership skills in her current role at BusinessDesk. Her breadth of international and local business reporting experience, organisational and personal skill aligns perfectly with our goals to further build on BusinessDesk's success and growth.”

Kirkness also paid tribute to Smellie: "Pattrick has been instrumental in navigating BusinessDesk's journey since founding it 16 years ago with Jonathan Underhill, and since its acquisition by NZME just over two years ago. We are delighted that he will continue to be part of our team as he plays to his strengths in business, economic and political analysis and news-breaking,” says Kirkness.

Young says she is honoured to be taking on this new role within the BusinessDesk team.

"I'm thrilled to embark on this new journey as the Editor of BusinessDesk. Together with the talented team at BusinessDesk, we will continue to push boundaries, drive impactful journalism, and contribute to the vibrant business media landscape of New Zealand,” she says.

“I’m relishing moving back into a pure writing role,” said Smellie. What delights me is that we have such great talent in our team and an obvious choice within it to become editor. Victoria is one of New Zealand journalism’s rising stars and she will be great.”

Young will work closely with NZME Business Managing Editor, Duncan Bridgeman, to continue to further enhance BusinessDesk's digital presence. She will assume her new role immediately, while Smellie will take a break from late April to early September before returning to BusinessDesk in his new role.

ENDS