Future's chief executive gears up for flotation and expansion.

Greg Ingham's company is preparing to step into the spotlight.

Suits are becoming an increasingly familiar sight to Greg Ingham. The chief executive of Future Publishing, who prefers jeans and a T-shirt to more formal attire, is being wheeled out in front of the City to talk about the company's stock market flotation at the end of next month. People are impressed by what he has to say, although some have noticed that he's not yet adopted the City dress code. "I'd recommend he wears a tie next time," one analyst says.

But Ingham and his company are not a ministry of magazines. Future is a bit of an upstart in the publishing community. At just 14 years old, it has grown into an international company with 1,210 employees, 101 …