Mark Searle leaves Quarto for DK

Mark Searle, publisher at Bright Press at The Quarto Group, will join DK as publishing director of licensing in November.

Searle will lead the DK licensing division from November 4th, reporting directly to DK m.d. of publishing, Rebecca Smart. He will develop the division’s global strategy and "strive to achieve ambitious growth," the publisher said.

Prior to Quarto, Searle worked at Elliott & Thompson and Pan Macmillan. Searle replaces Simon Beecroft who left DK in May.

“Mark brings a strong combination of creativity, entrepreneurship and leadership skills and we are really excited for him to join DK," Smart said. "He will be key to driving growth and success in the Licensing division and will work closely with our licensors.” 

With over nine years of experience as publisher of Bright Press, Searle has a proven track record of conceiving and creating high-grossing titles, DK said,

Searle said: “I am tremendously excited to take up this new opportunity with DK. Anyone who works in illustrated publishing is well aware of DK's quality books and global reach. I'll be sad to leave such great people at Quarto after nearly nine years, but I'm really looking forward to this new challenge in an area of the business with huge potential.”