Mason promoted to c.e.o. at The Book People

Simon Mason has been appointed chief executive officer at The Book People as William Wellesley steps down to become a non-executive director. 

After four years with The Book People, Wellesley stepped down earlier this month. He praised “the hard work and determination of our employees over the last few years has meant that the business has a really solid foundation to build upon and grow in the future. I am very fond of the business and its people and look forward to seeing its development in the future”.

Mason, who previously held the role of chief operating officer, said new hires will be announced shortly as The Book People seeks to develop brand and marketing activities. 

He said: “The Book People is an amazing business full of very passionate people with a real love of reading. I feel inspired to come to work every day knowing what we are doing to get more books into the hands of people all over the country. Our focus on children’s books and our increasing activities in schools means that we are really well placed to make a real difference to people’s lives. We have some very exciting things planned for 2019 including a significant increase in the number of school book buses and school book fairs that in 2018 gave away £300,000 worth of free books to schools. There will also be some new hires announced soon as we seek to develop our brand and marketing activities.”

To support Simon in his new role, Sarah Walden has been promoted from her role of group buying and merchandising director to c.o.o. and will be retaining her buying and publisher relationship responsibilities. 

Walden said: “I am delighted to be working with Simon and the rest of the senior management team to really drive the Book People forward and build upon our strong relationships with our publishing partners.”