Oneworld Publications expands into London

Four members of staff have left Oneworld Publications, as the indie publisher continues to expand its trade list and moves its offices to London. The individual roles of marketing manager and publicity manager were made redundant due to changes in the company's output, and two commissioning editors have taken voluntary redundancy as a result of the company's move to London.

The publisher decided to merge the publicity and marketing manger roles, taking on one person with experience in both areas. Publisher Juliet Mabey, who founded the independent publisher with husband Novin Doostdar, said of the decision: "It was a case of rationalising our overheads and making the most of our resources. It became very hard to justify both a publicity and marketing manager."

She added that the change in demand came partly as a result of a shift in the publisher's list, saying it has become 85% trade orientated, whereas before the split was 50%/50% trade and academic. It launched its fiction list in 2009.

Oneworld plans to "shortly" recruit two commissioning editors and additional support staff, to succeed those who chose not to move to London with the publisher and to "complete the London team".

Oneworld's new offices in Bloomsbury's Fitzroy Square opened on 4th January, with 12 members of staff working there full time, and senior management temporarily dividing their time between London and the company's original base in Oxford.

As well as reflecting the house's shift further into trade publishing, the move is intended to allow Oneworld to work more closely with sister company Oneworld Classics, based in Richmond.

Mabey said: "Contrary to the gloomy forecasts for the industry, the Oneworld list is going from strength to strength. We are incredibly excited about the London office and very proud of our titles for 2011. A full update on the London move and other changes within the company will be released soon."

The publisher celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The revenue of the Oneworld Publications Group was up by £188,619 in 2010 compared to 2009, a leap of 31%, according to Nielsen BookScan figures.