Symons makes Parragon move

Former Penguin Random House group sales director Mike Symons has been appointed chief executive of Bath-based children’s publisher Parragon Books.

Symons, who left PRH in January, succeeds Paul Taylor, who left to become c.e.o. of Bath-based gift, homeware and toy firm Wild & Wolf.

Symons, who is representing the company at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, said he joined Parragon at a “key time” as it looks to drive growth.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of leading this business over the coming years,” Symons said. He began his career with Reed Children’s Books, moving to Thomas Cork and then to Penguin, where he was part of the management team that worked on the merger of Penguin and Random House. He was succeeded at PRH by Rob Waddington, who was promoted from his position as international sales director.

Parragon, part of DC Thomson, works with brands such as Marvel, Nickelodeon and Disney, and has offices in New York, Cologne, Delhi, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Last year, the company said it planned to grow its US sales over the next five years, and established a US publishing team in September.

At the time the US push was announced, Taylor, the then c.e.o., said: “We are already a top three licensed publisher in the UK and we are number one in annuals. We are in a similar position in Australia but not in the US, so we are on an aggressive expansion plan.”

The US publishing team consists of eight members of staff who generate more US-specific content and acquire additional publishing licences. The company has also expanded its global sales team (there are now 30 staff in the US, up from 20; and 35 in the UK, up from 31) to sell content to new retailers.