The new chief executive of The Standard will join from women’s lifestyle brand Refinery29 in July.
Tamar Riley has been global managing director at Refinery29 since July 2022 and has been with the brand for more than nine years in total.
Her other roles have included VP global audience and content strategy (also overseeing fashion title i-D Magazine during Refinery29’s Vice Media ownership), VP international audience and director of marketing and audience development.
Riley will join The Standard (formerly The Evening Standard) on 14 July as it aims for “significant digital growth”.
The title last year stopped its daily print edition and turned it into a weekly title distributed for free in London on Thursdays.
Executive chairman Albert Read, who joined last year from Conde Nast where he was managing director in the UK, said Riley’s appointment “comes at an inflection point in The Standard’s journey.
“The editorial and commercial focus has been reset over the last twelve months, and the business is poised for significant digital growth under Tamar’s leadership.”
The Standard had a UK online audience of 11.9 million in April 2025 according to Ipsos iris, up 16% month on month and 19% year on year. Page views were up 60% compared to March and total minutes spent with its digital content were up 30%.
In print, the new weekly London Standard had an average distribution of 148,021 between September and December. In August, its final month as a daily title, it was on 273,631.
Riley said: “The Standard has a rich history of being on the pulse of what matters most to Londoners, representing our capital city’s vibrant culture and passionate communities with high quality journalism.
“In today’s landscape, community-centric media is more important than ever. I look forward to working with the talented team on the next chapter of The Standard.”
The Standard’s last permanent CEO was Charles Yardley, who held the role between 2020 and 2023 and has since moved to Dubai to take the same role at the Khaleej Times.
Ex-Guardian chief customer and commercial officer Paul Kanareck has been helping to lead The Standard as interim CEO and chair since 2023.
Riley said on Linkedin of her time at Refinery29: “Ten years ago I heard about an amazing American brand that truly represented women, no filters, no airbrushing, no egos, no elitism, no stereotypes and no fear of taboo topics. A curated space of style and substance which would pave the way for the future of digital journalism. I was sold.
“In those ten years we achieved so much, we sold the business twice, launched in multiple markets, expanded across new social channels and newsletters, we held incredible internet-breaking events, we helped change the law(!), we won countless awards, we pivoted-pivoted-pivoted, and most importantly we created true impact for our audience and clients.”
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