ENDS Report

About ENDS Report

ENDS Report is the UK's leading publication for environmental professionals, approaching its 50th year with a formidable reputation for agenda-setting journalism. Published since May 1978, it is known for unparalleled analysis of environmental policy, fearless investigative reporting and holding those in power to account. Its journalism provides the critical scrutiny required to drive real change — and for thousands of professionals in the environment space, ENDS remains the go-to expert on green policy, law and implementation. Its website is endsreport.com.

The title was founded as the journal of Environmental Data Services Ltd (ENDS), established by Max Nicholson and David Layton to give business and industry reliable information on environmental developments. Its legendary editor Marek Mayer, who joined in 1979 and edited the report for more than twenty years, was widely regarded as Britain's best-informed environmental journalist. The current editor is Jamie Carpenter, and the title was for many years published by Haymarket as its environmental publishing arm.

First Edition: May 1978

The first edition of ENDS Report rolled off the presses in May 1978, addressing issues that remain familiar today: the UK's unknown quantity of industrial and commercial waste arisings, the establishment of an independent body to advise on environmental policy, the value of the pollution control market, and sea trials for experimental wave-energy power units. Its opening claim — that a "large and growing number of people in industry and commerce are realising that many of the environmental issues that have surfaced over the last decade are real and are here to stay" — reads as remarkably prescient nearly five decades on.

That first edition carried a founding commitment: to be "primarily factual and analytical ... independent of any environmental lobbies or factions" and to serve the "needs of non-specialist executives in industry, in business and in government generally." Nearly fifty years later the title still holds itself to those commitments, providing subscribers with timely, high-value intelligence to help them make a difference — in their roles and to the environment.

Founded by Nicholson and Layton

ENDS — Environmental Data Services Ltd — was founded by Max Nicholson and David Layton, who saw that business and industry needed access to reliable information on environmental developments. The early 1970s had made the environment a major subject of governmental attention, and parts of the business community were beginning to respond: there was, potentially, a market for authoritative environmental intelligence.

The founders' insight was that environmental regulation would become a permanent feature of business life, and that executives needed independent, factual analysis rather than campaigning rhetoric. That positioning — neither industry lobby nor environmental campaign — became the title's defining characteristic and the basis of its authority with readers, regulators and policymakers alike.

Marek Mayer: The Legendary Editor

Marek Mayer joined ENDS in 1979, shortly after publication began, and edited the report for more than twenty years. Widely regarded as Britain's best-informed environmental journalist, he made the monthly journal influential far beyond the business community for which it was originally designed. In 1999 the Society of Chemical Industry awarded him its environmental medal for "outstanding and sustained contributions to the analysis and dissemination of environmental policy and legislation."

Mayer, who died in 2005 aged 52, was listed among the top 100 green campaigners of all time by the Environment Agency — a remarkable accolade for a journalist. His editorship set the standard the title maintains today: deeply informed, analytically rigorous and unafraid to challenge power, whether corporate or governmental. An enduring legacy indeed, as the title's own history puts it.

Agenda-Setting Journalism

ENDS Report describes itself as known for "unparalleled analysis of environmental policy, fearless investigative reporting, and for holding those in power to account." Its journalism has repeatedly set the agenda on the defining environmental stories of recent years — from the regulation of chemicals to the failures of green grant schemes, from contaminated land to the pollution of Britain's rivers.

The title's investigations unit produces award-winning investigations and documentaries: exposing how the Yorkshire town of Bentham came to have the UK's highest recorded levels of PFAS "forever chemicals"; revealing contaminated fertilisers sold to England's farmers; tracking millions of taxpayer pounds poured into failing green grant schemes; and investigating deaths at highly regulated hazard sites. Its two-part podcast "God's Own Dark Waters" and the documentary "TOXIC: Britain's forever polluted rivers and seas" brought its investigative journalism to new audiences.

Specialist Channels and Digital Publishing

The ENDS Report website was relaunched with ten specialist channels — Carbon & Energy Efficiency, Waste & Recycling, Water, Products & Supply Chain, Green Strategy, Ecology & Land, Law & Compliance, Pollution & Health, Transport and Renewables — strengthening its service to specialists while continuing to serve multi-disciplinary environmental managers. Weekly email bulletins take the content to a wide professional audience.

The brand has experimented with new publishing formats throughout its digital evolution: blogging direct from the Copenhagen climate summit (COP15) in 2009, free blog articles alongside gated subscriber news and analysis, and now podcasts and documentaries. Each innovation has extended the reach of its journalism while preserving the subscription model that funds its investigative depth.

Haymarket's Environmental Publisher

For many years ENDS operated as Haymarket's environmental publishing arm, alongside leading environmental titles ENDS Europe and the ENDS Report. Under editor-in-chief Nick Rowcliffe the titles collaborated on major-event coverage — such as the Copenhagen summit blog, which streamed headlines across all ENDS websites and reached an audience of more than 20,000.

The Haymarket years gave the title the resources to invest in digital publishing and investigative journalism, building the multi-platform operation — magazine, website, bulletins, podcasts, documentaries — that defines the modern ENDS brand.

Readership: The Environment Profession

For thousands of professionals in the environment space, ENDS is the go-to expert on green policy, law and implementation. Its readers span industry environmental managers, consultants, lawyers, policymakers, regulators and NGOs — the people who implement environmental law, advise on compliance and shape corporate sustainability strategy.

The title's value to these readers lies in its independence and depth: timely, high-value intelligence on policy developments, legal changes and enforcement trends, produced by specialist journalists with decades of accumulated expertise. In a field where regulation is complex and constantly evolving, that intelligence is a professional necessity.

Five Decades of Environmental Journalism

From the archive: five decades of environmental journalism. The title's own retrospective traces its coverage from the waste and wave-power stories of May 1978 through the great environmental battles of each subsequent decade — acid rain, ozone depletion, climate change, plastics, forever chemicals — to the present day.

Through it all, the mission set out in that first edition has remained the same: to be primarily factual and analytical, independent of lobbies and factions, and to serve the people whose decisions shape the environment. Nearly fifty years on, ENDS Report remains what its founders intended — the indispensable journal of Britain's environmental profession.

Five Decades of Environmental Journalism

The first edition of ENDS Report rolled off the presses in May 1978, addressing issues still familiar today: the UK's unknown quantity of industrial and commercial waste arisings, the case for an independent body to advise on environmental policy, the value of the pollution control market, and sea trials for experimental wave energy power units. Its founding commitment — to be "primarily factual and analytical", independent of environmental lobbies or factions, and to serve non-specialist executives in industry, business and government — still anchors the title nearly 50 years on.

Marek Mayer was the journal's editorial lead for more than two decades; in 1981 he and fellow writer Georgina McAughtry took over the precarious venture, modernised its production and steadily built subscriptions until, in 2004, the journal — by then employing 35 staff — was sold to Haymarket Press. Jamie Carpenter is the current editor. ENDS Report is known for agenda-setting journalism and fearless investigative reporting: recent award-winning investigations include the revelation that a small town in Yorkshire had the UK's highest recorded level of PFAS "forever chemicals" — pursued with ITV Exposure — and the documentary TOXIC, uncovering the pollution of Britain's rivers and seas. For thousands of environmental professionals, ENDS remains the go-to expert on green policy, law and implementation. Its website is endsreport.com.