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DMGT has been reporting news for over a century. We have a proud heritage as an information business.

DMGT people live and breathe the culture. They spend their working lives discovering what people want and how the world is changing. That deep knowledge gives us a real edge.

We've always understood that people want fast access to information. In a different era, we hired trains to deliver newspapers across the country ahead of our competitors.

Today, fast means instant. Consumers and business people want real-time information on the platform of their choice. We are making that happen with iPad apps, mobile access and web portals.

And our customers are no longer passive recipients. They're getting involved by sharing information through social media, user-generated community sites and, increasingly, on professional online forums.

This dialogue is enriching content and transforming our business. Our companies are getting ever closer to their customers. We are no longer just producing content; we are orchestrating networks.

We continue to invest in our businesses – to attract and retain people who have what it takes to generate vivid content and must-have information; and to situate our companies at the heart of the online communities that are shaping tomorrow's markets.

The greatest risk comes from risking nothing

Being an entrepreneur is an attitude. Where others see risks, entrepreneurs embrace opportunities.

In bigger companies it can be tough to keep the entrepreneurial flame burning. Systems proliferate. The logic for consolidation, for streamlined processes, is hard to withstand.

It doesn't have to be that way. At DMGT we resist standardisation. Even if sometimes that means sacrificing economies of scale.

We believe businesses in creative industries thrive when they're distinctive. We celebrate diversity – it sharpens our competitive edge.

DMGT is a big company, but we hold onto some small business attitudes.

There has always been a healthy respect here for entrepreneurialism. This is a place where ‘can-do' trumps mere efficiency.

That entrepreneurial culture permeates the Group. We grow businesses organically and we acquire and develop thriving companies. We do that by hiring talented people, giving them plenty of responsibility and making sure they are properly rewarded. When entrepreneurs join us they get the time, space and resources to do what they do best.

Innovation doesn't just happen; it has to be made to happen

We work to retain market-leading positions in our sectors. We do that by fostering a culture of innovation right across the Group.

Dynamic, independent businesses are fertile breeding grounds for innovation. They also face hurdles. They can be constrained by insufficient funds, inadequate resources and lack of expertise or coverage.

DMGT companies retain the energy and dynamism of independent businesses, but get access to the resources of a major international group.

We have talented people working at the sharp end. They're the ones that know their customers. We trust them to make the right calls. They use their autonomy to launch new initiatives and stay one step ahead as their markets evolve.

And we share ideas across the Group. When something works well in one business, there's a good chance it will add value elsewhere. We don't impose, that's not our style, but we do encourage joined-up thinking.

We prize agility and value curiosity

Success breeds success, but it also breeds complacency. And when an organisation retreats to its comfort zone, it risks being overtaken.

We operate in the fluid media world. Survival depends on adapting fast.

So we prioritise learning and prize agility. We encourage our people to stay curious, to question received wisdom.

DMGT's own history offers up useful lessons. First – the value of perseverance. It can take time to build up a worthwhile business; there may be setbacks. You need to be prepared for the long haul.

Equally, there are times when radical reappraisal is what's required. Our regional newspapers are competing in a tough environment for a diminishing pool of readers and advertisers in print. We saw the way this market was headed early on and acted decisively to keep the business sustainable by investing in digital media.

We won't switch course to fit the latest trend. But we do stay agile. Where there are grounds for changing strategy, we're quick to take the necessary decisions and put them in place.

Permanent capital and quality assets

The breadth of our business interests adds stability. And we have the financial muscle to navigate market peaks and troughs.

Our structure and balance sheet strength support our long-term outlook.

We are building a global information and media group. We look for complementary businesses with strong growth prospects and where we think DMGT's involvement can make a difference.

We take a portfolio approach to investing. We only buy businesses that meet our strict investment criteria. We prefer to invest in high-growth sectors. And we look at the core characteristics of potential investments – does the business offer innovative, hard-to-replicate products and services, are its brands well-regarded?

We may occasionally divest a business if it's a better fit and offers more value for another company, but we never buy businesses to sell them on. We always buy for the long term.

Our financial track record demonstrates that our approach works. Over the past 22 years DMGT's share price has consistently outperformed the FTSE all-share index. Our dividend has grown on average by 7% annually in real terms.

The things that make us different are what we have in common

Our diversified portfolio adds perspective. We gain from managing our businesses as distinct, independent units, because we get exposure to different world views.

By stepping back, we give ourselves the time and space to think about the big picture.

We analyse macro trends – like cloud computing, social networks, emographic change – and we look at their impact on the markets we serve.

We maintain an active dialogue with the leaders of our businesses. We are continually pushing them to adapt their operations in line with changing market conditions.

Many of our companies, especially on the consumer side, are facing disruptive technologies. And we're seeing more instances of B2B companies borrowing ideas from other sectors. We work with our businesses to get them thinking early about how they can channel these changes most effectively.