The outgoing chief executive of Rightmove is among a pack of contenders to become the next boss of Future, the Marie Claire and Wallpaper publisher.

Sky News has learnt that Peter Brooks-Johnson, who will leave the property portal in March, has been shortlisted to succeed Zillah Byng-Thorne, the media group’s veteran chief.

Mr Brooks-Johnson is one of “several” names being considered by Richard Huntingford, Future’s chairman, according to a person close to the succession process.

The identity of the other candidates was unclear this weekend, and one source close to Mr Brooks-Johnson said it was unclear whether, if he was offered the job, he would take it.

Future’s £1.8bn stock market valuation, which has more than halved in the last year, is significantly smaller than that of Rightmove, which has a market capitalisation of £4.5bn.

Mr Brooks-Johnson has run Rightmove since 2017, having joined the company in 2006.

Last September, Future confirmed a Sky News report that Ms Byng-Thorne had notified colleagues that she intended to step down in 2023.

Hunt poised to approve £300m grant in bid to avert British Steel collapse

Google job fears in UK and Ireland as parent firm Alphabet slashes 12,000 staff globally

Elon Musk appears in court to defend Tesla buyout tweets

Since then, she has been named chair-designate of Trustpilot, the online reviews platform.

Under her leadership, Future became one of Britain’s biggest listed digital media companies, acquiring assets such as GoCompare, the price comparison website.

Initially appointed as finance chief in 2013, Future had a market capitalisation of just £30m at the point that Ms Byng-Thorne took over as chief executive.

Future, which also publishes The Week, Country Life and FourFourTwo magazines, said in a statement on Saturday that its “search process is ongoing and an appointment will be announced in due course as and when appropriate”.

Rightmove declined to comment.

One analyst said Mr Brooks-Johnson was a logical contender to run Future because of his track record and digital expertise.

Prior to joining Rightmove, he was a management consultant at Accenture.

He is also on the board of Adevinta, an online classified advertising giant listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Related posts:

UK bans Boeing B777s with certain engine after two incidents Boohoo cuts hundreds of suppliers to fashion new future after factory scandal EasyJet chairman Barton takes flight amid recovery hopes More people are in work, it’s the TUC annual congress and cyber security Pimlico Plumbers tycoon Mullins nears £100m deal to sell company Currys reveals pre-Christmas sales slowdown as supply strains and Omicron uncertainty take toll Energy price cap shake-up could see households locked into six-month deals Macron’s re-election, another jump in house prices, and businesses supporting Ukraine Former Cameron aide Silva’s Second Home races to avert collapse Rising cost of living hits maritime communities like Plymouth hard Kwarteng picks ex-BCG partner Bokkerink as next CMA chair Threat of Go-Ahead bus disruption as company manages ‘cyber security incident’