Private company

Argus Press

British publishing company based in Redhill1

Argus Press was a British publishing company. It was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested management buyouts of the 1980s when a management team led by Kimble Earl, George Fowkes, and Scott Smith secured financing of £207m from forty national and international banks to acquire the UK and US businesses from BET.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

  • Industrypaper and publishing industry, printing and service activities related to printing, publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities1
  • HeadquartersRedhill1

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Argus Press was a British publishing company. It was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested management buyouts of the 1980s when a management team led by Kimble Earl, George Fowkes, and Scott Smith secured financing of £207m from forty national and international banks to acquire the UK and US businesses from BET. The acquisition was of particular note as the publisher Robert Maxwell was among the rival bidders, and widely considered as capable of out-witting the management team. Only an eleventh-hour intervention by Earl – exposing members of Maxwell's secret consortium as rival newspaper publishers which meant Maxwell would fall foul of the Monopolies Commission – brought success for the management team. The new company traded under the name of Team Argus. Its portfolio of businesses included the largest group of paid-for and free weekly newspapers in the UK, an extensive range of business titles in the UK and the USA, and a group of specialist hobby-interest magazines in the UK. Team Argus businesses were sold off to various buyers during the early 1990s.2

Corporate structure

Argus Press is part of a group headed by British Electric Traction. 2 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

Products and brands

Argus Business Publications

This business was a major player in business-to-business publications in both the UK and the USA, with publishing centres in Redhill, Surrey, and in Atlanta, Denver, Clarksdale, Mississippi and others. Titles served a wide range of commercial sectors including mining, duty-free trading, electronics, and agriculture. The chief executive of the division was George Fowkes, who looked after the UK business publications with Scott Smith reporting to him for the US division. All titles were sold during 1994-1995.

Argus Press Software

The software division, Argus Press Software, was active in the 1980s, producing games for several home computer systems of the time. It acquired Quicksilva and Starcade in 1984, Bug-Byte in 1985, and also published titles by the wargame company MC Lothlorien. In 1987, Argus Press Software was purchased by its managing director, Stephen Hall, and renamed Grandslam Entertainment.

From Wikipedia’s article on Argus Press, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Divisions

From Wikidata.1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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