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Hachette UK acquires Welbeck Publishing Group
Hachette UK has acquired independent Welbeck Publishing Group for an undisclosed sum, with an agreement made between the shareholders of Welbeck and Hachette UK on 30th November 2022.
Welbeck’s gift, illustrated and adult trade publishing will become part of Headline Publishing Group and Welbeck’s children’s list will become part of Hachette Children’s Group.
Hachette UK says the acquisition of Welbeck is part of its longer-term strategy to diversify into specialist areas by acquiring publishers that are “leaders in their field”; in recent years its acquisitions have included Paperblanks, Bookouture, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Laurence King, Summersdale, John Catt Educational and Short Books.
David Shelley, c.e.o of Hachette UK, said: “Welbeck’s creativity, dynamism and consumer focus is inspiring, the company is exceptionally strong in a wide range of fields, and we’re excited to welcome them to our business.
“I’m really looking forward to learning from and working with Welbeck’s brilliant team and to welcoming their fantastic list of authors. I know we’ll be able to help the company to go from strength to strength in the years to come and to honour Welbeck’s ambitious publishing vision.”
Mark Smith and Marcus Leaver, who co-founded Welbeck in 2019 and are its executive directors, will be stepping down. They said: “Both of us could never have envisaged in March 2019 what a wild and rewarding experience founding Welbeck would be.
“The past few years have seen so much change in the world, it’s been daunting and exhilarating at the same time, and we are proud of what we have achieved. Welbeck has been transformed from a predominantly co-edition focused business into a consumer-facing trade publisher with revenue that will exceed £25m in 2022.
“We would like to thank our team, who have excelled in ways we could have only imagined. And we would also like to thank our authors, illustrators and network of suppliers who have been key partners as we evolved the business over the past three years. Lastly, a huge thanks to our customers for buying the wonderful books we have published. We look forward to seeing the business continue its upward trajectory as part of Headline and Hachette.”
Mari Evans, managing director of Headline Publishing Group, said she was “thrilled we now have this unique opportunity to bring Welbeck and its expertise in illustrated and gift publishing into our divisional fold,” adding that she was “looking forward to learning from my new colleagues and, together, seeing us become a genuine force to be reckoned with.”
Hilary Murray Hill, c.e.o of Hachette Children’s Group, commented: “I’ve been hugely impressed by the creativity and imagination of the Welbeck children’s list over recent years and am excited by the opportunity of collaborating with new colleagues from Welbeck to grow and develop these brands, authors and illustrators – some of whom we are extremely proud to already be working with – as part of the Hachette Children’s Group.”
Asked whether there would be job losses as a result of the acquisition, a Hachette spokesperson said: "Following the acquisition, in terms of staff being absorbed: Welbeck’s gift, illustrated and adult trade business will become part of Headline Publishing Group and Welbeck’s children’s list will become part of Hachette Children’s Group. Beyond that, we are taking the time to get to know the business and its people: it’s business as usual."
Mental health and wellbeing imprint Trigger, which had been majority owned by Welbeck since December 2020, is not part of the deal. Soraya Nair, publisher at Trigger Publishing Group, told The Bookseller: "As part of an internal reorganisation of Welbeck Publishing Group of all its companies, Welbeck has taken the decision that it is in best interests of both the group and its authors to withdraw its majority shareholding in Welbeck Trigger Limited (WTL). As a result, WTL will once again operate as Trigger Publishing Ltd (TPL), and fall under full ownership and control of the Trigger Group (TPG)."
Nair said: “We’re really excited to welcome our authors back into the Trigger family. As well as now having a trade publishing capability, TPG through its TriggerHub division has become one of the leading providers of mental health solutions in the B2B marketplace which we believe can open up many new doors for our authors beyond traditional trade channels."
According to Nielsen Bookscan UK Total Consumer Market figures, Welbeck Publishing Group is currently on 703,132 books sold for £5.92m so far for 2022 as a whole. Compared to the available weeks of 2021, it’s up 30% in volume and 30.7% in value. Welbeck’s bestseller for the year to date is Bruce Jones’ Formula One 2022 on 29,177 copies sold since publication in February.
