Moss made m.d. of Wordery as Jones leaves

Connect Books has promoted Rob Moss to managing director of online bookseller Wordery, following the decision of current managing director and founder, Will Jones, to leave the business at the end of May.

Wordery was established in October 2012 as a joint enterprise between book wholesaler Connect Books, which originally owned a 51% stake, and former Book Depository IT director Will Jones and founding partners Steve Potter, Rob Johnson, Lee Valentine and Tim Williams who owned the remaining 49%.

In September 2015, Connect Books bought the remaining 49% stake in Wordery from the founding partners for an initial consideration of £5.1m and a possible further £3.3m.

The online retailer, which sells books for high discounts to the UK and countries across the world has achieved a turnover of £50m sales in five years.

In May Jones will leave the book industry to start a new e-commerce venture in a different marketplace. He said: “Taking the business from start-up to £50m sales in just five years has been a journey that I am truly proud of. I leave the business on a strong growth trajectory and with Rob’s appointment, in great hands.”

Moss joined Wordery as marketing director in September 2016 with a background in start-up e-commerce businesses.

"He has quickly made an impact to the wordery.com team, spearheading the multi-channel digital campaigns that led to record sales over peak", a spokesperson for the company said.

Moss added: “I’m excited about the challenge. It’s been a fantastic six months: we’ve delivered a very strong peak; we’re scaling the global operation and firmly placing the consumer at the heart of what we do. In this high volume low margin business our automation and digital ability is critical. With that now built in to the DNA of Wordery I’m very confident we will continue to grow.”

The most recent accounts filed at Companies House, show that parent company Connect Books achieved a strong Christmas trading period, with like-for-like sales up 15.1% across its wholesale business and its online platform Wordery.