DK pursues education market with Hilary Fine appointment

DK has announced plans to accelerate its growth in the education market and the appointment of Hilary Fine to the newly created role of education development director.

The company revealed it has "ambitious plans" to grow this area of its publishing, with increased investment in its books, marketing and online platforms, to accelerate its expansion in education channels. 

As part of these plans, the business has appointed Fine to the newly created role of education development director. Fine will work on growing DK's presence in education–a goal it termed "a major strategic focus"–developing and executing its education channel strategy with a market-led approach.  

Fine joins DK from GL Education, where she grew its education portfolio through product and strategic partnerships. Before that, she worked at Hodder Education, where she led a strategy to grow the assessment list into a multi-million pound business, and at Pearson, where she managed the research and strategy for e-books for A-level development. Starting at DK in November, she will be based in the UK in what is a global role.

Paul Kelly, strategy director, said: "Our education business is a key priority in our ambition to grow DK to the next level. We are very excited to announce Hilary’s appointment today. She is a native to the education and academic world with an impressive wealth of experience and will play a pivotal role in our laser-focused strategy execution. Hilary is expertly placed to accelerate our plans in the education market."

Fine said: "I am really pleased to be joining DK at such an exciting time for education. While education models have been evolving, recent events have changed the way we view how and where young people are learning. In the changing, often remote or hybrid model of education, the need to engage curious young minds in what they are studying is paramount. DK is well-positioned to help ensure children in schools and at home benefit from using its uniquely engaging content to better develop key skills and understand the big ideas and how they relate to the world around them."