Marianne Laidlaw moves to Bloomsbury sales from Hachette

Marianne Laidlaw will join Bloomsbury UK Sales as head of cookery, lifestyle and illustrated non-fiction, after almost a decade with the Hachette Publishing Sales team.

Most recently, Laidlaw headed up sales for the Octopus Publishing Group illustrated list, where she worked on the sales strategy of imprints including Mitchell Beazley, Aster, Short Books and Hamlyn. She assumes her role on Monday 15th July, reporting to Sarah Knight, sales director for Bloomsbury’s UK adult trade division.

Knight commented: "I am incredibly excited that Marianne is joining the team in this key senior sales role. We have seen an exciting period of expansion in our cookery and lifestyle publishing and Marianne is perfectly placed to lead the charge as we extend our reach even further in the market."

Laidlaw added: "I’ve enjoyed a wonderful nine years at Octopus and have loved working with our authors and my brilliant colleagues there. However, I couldn’t be more delighted to be joining Sarah Knight and her fantastic team at Bloomsbury for this next step.

"I’ve admired Bloomsbury’s illustrated titles for many years; books with such distinct personality and style. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to shape future sales strategy and contribute to the ongoing success of the list."