Publishing needs freedom of movement, says PRH HR boss

Freedom of movement has "undoubtedly" helped the economic development of the UK and the publishing industry needs to connect demand for labour with supply coming across the world following Brexit, Penguin Random House group human resources director Neil Morrison has said.

Speaking at The Bookseller’s Brexit Breakfast held yesterday (11th July), Morrison said the rhetoric of the referendum concerning freedom of movement and immigration was very different to the reality. Citing a survey done just before the referendum, Morrison said that 51% of employers said they lacked the skills they needed in permanent staff in order to grow, meaning that there is still a demand for skilled staff.

Morrison maintained that “freedom of movement has undoubtedly helped the economic development of our country”, and that whatever system of immigration the UK decides to implement, “we need to make it clear in our industry that that system really needs to work to help us connect the demand we have for labour with the supply coming across the world.”

He added that the book trade needed to be “giving out reassuring messages in this interim period: that we’re a broad and open and welcoming industry. The fact is we will be requiring a workforce from outside of the UK.”

“Regardless of who is the next Prime Minister, regardless of political party or persuasion, they either reduce the size of British economy or they allow freedom of movement and of labour," he said. "It’s almost a certainty that there will be some system put in place that will allow people to remain."

He also warned that low levels of consumer confidence and spending following Brexit could hit wages. Morrison said that although the argument that exiting the EU would increase wages was a “sensible economic argument in isolation”, it didn’t take into account the impact consumer confidence and consumer spending would have on the whole economy. “While this isn’t publishing-specific, wage settlements which were looking to get back to that 2% (increase) figure, we’ll see hold beneath that”, Morrison said.

Lizzy Kremer, agent at David Higham Associates and vice-president of the Association of Authors' Agents, discussed the issue of exclusive European rights, which many believe could be in jeopardy due to Brexit. She told publishers: “British agents have been supporting you in trying to secure these rights, but it's crucial that you continue to pay authors favourably for rights. Agents will do all they can to support UK publishers demands to exclusivity in Europe, but it puts pressure on publishers to protect authors."

Kremer said of agents: “We’re trying to make sense of the many narratives going on at the moment. In terms of rhetoric, authors are very sensitive to the stories we’re telling now.” She added: “We’re all instinctively European and creativity shouldn’t have borders. We see ourselves as brother and sisters, and have all acknowledged commercial and creative benefits from Europe. But now we have to think about Britain. We have to promote our diversity and talent and think about what we do and how we can justify still being at the heart of Europe. We have to consider the voices and narratives we have in Britain that are unique and we can promote."

She added that she was “frustrated about narratives of despair" which "lament" the cause of authors and the present situation. "I don’t think we should be promoting that narrative," she said. "This is nothing like as bad as the 2008/2009 recession. We have to be cautious, but that’s no reason to start creating a narrative of recession.”

Also speaking on the panel were Susie Winter, director of policy and communications at the PA; Shireen Peermohamed partner at Harbottle & Lewis and Alessandro Gallenzi, publisher at Alma Books. Benedicte Page, deputy editor of The Bookseller, chaired the event.