PRH looks to grow UK distribution business

Penguin Random House UK will not be changing its distribution sites in the UK, in the wake of news that the US arm of the business is to shut two Penguin warehouses in the United States.

In a memo sent this week, Penguin Random House in America announced it would close warehouses in Kirkwood, New York, and Pittston, Pennsylvania in a year, with operations moving to Random House warehouses in Westminster, Maryland, and Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Publishers Weekly reported that the memo, from c.e.o. Markus Dohle and c.o.o. Madeline McIntosh said the goal was to "increase our competitive advantage in the marketplace, to grow the profitability of our titles for our retailers, and to bring better service to our authors than ever before".

Following the news, Penguin Random House in the UK has said no closures were planned for its warehouses in this country, which consist of TBS in Frating in Essex, Grantham Book Services in Grantham in Lincolnshire and the former Penguin business in Rugy, Warwickshire.

Mark Williams, m.d. distribution, Penguin Random House UK, said: "Distribution businesses are very specific to their territories and we are fortunate enough to be in the position of looking to grow our business still further. 

"We pride ourselves in providing an industry-leading bespoke service to all our clients – be that Penguin Random House or our client publishers – and have already secured a number of new clients in the first quarter of 2104 alone.

"We are in ongoing discussions with a number of other publishers about their future needs and look forward to working in partnership with them in due course; extending to them the highest levels of service that our existing 60 client publishers enjoy."

Car manual publisher Haynes outsourced its UK distribution operation to Grantham Book Services recently.