Lewis Dawson becomes m.d. of Bookspeed

UK retail supplier Bookspeed has appointed Lewis Dawson as managing director in an aim to "reinforce its position for future growth".

Dawson, who was previously the company's commercial director, will also become a shareholder as part of the succession plan of his parents, who own the company. Meanwhile, former m.d. Matthew Perren has instead taken up the role of operations and finance director.

These new appointments "underpin the significant growth" of Bookspeed, which expanded into additional facilities last year after reporting a rise in sales from around £6m in 2015 to just under £9m in 2017. The company is now expecting sales for this financial year to surpass £10m for the first time in its history.

Lewis said it was important that the company's team structure "continues to evolve to support ongoing expansion".

He said: “In recent years, I have been involved in working closely with our sales director, Fiona Stout, on business development while Matthew has performed a crucial role in expanding our operational functions, including our IT infrastructure, which now allows us to operate efficiently out of the company’s two sites.

"Together, the team is looking forward to the ongoing growth of the company and our customer base by continuing to deliver a highly-personalised, proactive and responsive service. We believe our commitment to this service, combined with the team’s industry insights and track record for staying ahead of the game for up-coming trends, is behind the strength and longevity of Bookspeed’s business model. My goal is to make Bookspeed simply irresistible to do business with.”

Edinburgh-based Bookspeed, which was established by Dawson’s parents Annie Rhodes and Kingsley Dawson more than 30 years ago, specialises in creating bespoke ranges of books to meet different retailer needs. Its portfolio of customers ranges from independent businesses and multi-site national companies to heritage attractions and other specialist retail sectors, while the company is also the exclusive UK distributor for a number of overseas brands.

Last year, Bookspeed more than doubled its operational capacity by investing in additional warehouse facilities on Edinburgh’s Albert Road, which is located close to the firm’s headquarters at Salamander Yards in Leith. The new facility saw operational space increase from around 13,500sq ft to more than 25,000sq ft.