30-year-old Bloomsbury marks past and present

Bloomsbury staffers old and new joined authors, agents and booksellers to celebrate the publishing house's 30th birthday last night (29th September) in Bedford Square Gardens, London WC1.

Thanks to the packed contacts book of Bloomsbury's convivial UK group sales director David Ward, a roster of past staffers including Sarah Odedina, Minna Fry, Mark Rusher and Katie Bond returned to join current editor-in-chief Alexandra Pringle, digital resources m.d. Kathryn Earle and Bloomsbury Consumer m.d. Emma Hopkin at the packed event in the central London square, with Bloomsbury co-founders David Reynolds and Liz Calder also making an appearance.

Agent James Gill and Bloomsbury co-founder Liz Calder

Welcoming partygoers, who included authors William Boyd and Joanna Trollope, c.e.o. Nigel Newton said he had "tried to garner as many colleagues from past decades as present ones" for the celebratory event, noting that Bedford Square had been "the centre of publishing" right back when Bloomsbury started up in 1986, with Michael Joseph, Jonathan Cape, Frederick Warne and the Publishers Association all based there, providing inspiration for the new company and its name. Now Bloomsbury faced the future with a "unique combination" of high quality children's and adult trade publishing and academic publishing, and the "big new investment for digital resource publishing".  

Agent Sophie Hicks, Bloomsbury finance director Colin Adams, Bloomsbury c.e.o. Nigel Newton and Kate Beal of Oneworld

Remembering escapades from the Hogwarts steam train carting schoolchildren around the country to hiking the Lake District in the company of author David Guterson, Newton said it had all been - in executive director Richard Charkin's words - "incredible fun."