NRN names Sarah E. Lockyer editor-in-chief

Nation’s Restaurant News has named Sarah E. Lockyer editor-in-chief, with responsibility for leading the strategic multimedia content evolution for the largest foodservice media brand.

In this new role, Lockyer will focus on coordinating editorial efforts to further enhance the quality of all NRN content vehicles, from the most trafficked B2B foodservice website and the flagship magazine to the leading restaurant executive conference, MUFSO, and NRN’s newest offering, an iPad app.

Lockyer will report to Nation’s Restaurant News publisher Randall Friedman. NRN executive editor Robin Lee Allen will continue to drive editorial efforts, including the management of the largest team of editors and contributors in B2B foodservice media.

“The editorial leadership at Nation’s Restaurant News has never been stronger,” Friedman says. “With these moves, NRN will continue to provide the best news, analysis and information to our audience of more than 581,000 points of contact.

“Sarah has been a force for quality journalism in this multimedia age, driving NRN to new heights and new audiences,” Friedman adds. “Her leadership is well known and respected not just here at NRN, but also throughout the restaurant industry. Given Sarah’s strong print background coupled with her passion for digital innovation, there is no one more qualified to run our editorial operations in this rapidly changing, multimedia environment.”  

Since late 2009, Lockyer has served as executive online editor at Nation’s Restaurant News, building the brand’s market-leading digital presence, which includes the online hub of NRN.com — twice relaunched since 2009 — and its portfolio of e-newsletters, anchored by the daily NRN a.m. Lockyer also has developed NRN’s video platform, which now boasts more than 2,000 restaurant-focused videos, and products such as Market Monitor and the Social 200.  

NRN.com was just named a Best Website finalist in the 2013 Neal Awards, the most prestigious business-to-business journalism competition. NRN a.m. was named a Neal Awards finalist for Best Newsletter in 2011.

“Nation’s Restaurant News is the biggest media brand in foodservice, with an unrivaled audience that looks to us for news, trend analysis and data to help drive their businesses,” Lockyer says. “I am both excited and honored to be named editor-in-chief at a time when NRN is ready to reach new levels both in print and digital media and to further our editorial mission of providing the best information for and about the restaurant industry.”   

A nine-year veteran at Nation’s Restaurant News, Lockyer joined the team in 2004 as a financial editor, covering mergers and acquisitions, corporate earnings, and financing. She helped redesign the award-winning magazine’s financial section and was part of the editorial team producing a weekly publication.

An industry speaker, Lockyer has been tapped to present at various conferences, from the National Restaurant Association’s Supply Chain Management Study Group to KPMG’s Restaurant Finance Share Group. Prior to her work at NRN, Lockyer was a reporter at American Banker, a daily newspaper covering the financial sector.

She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.