Pearson shakes up group structure in drive for growth

Pearson, the FTSE 100-listed publishing and education firm, on Thursday announced plans to shake up its organisational structure in an effort to tap into new growth opportunities.

The group will organise itself around three key lines of business - School, High Education and Professional - and three main geographies - North America, Growth and Core.

Pearson, which labels itself as the world's "leading learning company", said that the changes are "designed to accelerate [the] push into digital learning, education services and emerging markets, which the company views as significant growth opportunities."

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The changes will kick in at the start of next year and the firm will report financial figures for each division and region separately.

"This new organisation structure flows directly from the strategy that we set out earlier this year. It is designed to make Pearson more digital, more services-oriented, more focused on emerging economies and more accountable for learning outcomes," said Chief Executive John Fallon.

"This is a significant change in the way we run the company that will take time and sustained commitment, but it is one we must make to be able to accelerate the execution of our global education strategy."

The company has named leaders of the new lines and geographies, all of which were presidents and chief executive officers (CEO) of existing divisions.

As part of the shake-up, Pearson North America's CEO Will Ethridge is to step down at the end of the year, while group Chief Technology Officer Genevieve Shore will assume the new role of Chief Product and Marketing Officer.