Mackay joins AwesomeBooks

Simon Mackay, formerly of Edinburgh Book Festival and W H Smith, is joining Oxfordshire-based AwesomeBooks in the newly created role of head of books.

The firm, set up in 2004, is committed to a sustainable model of retailing, matching each sale made through its website with a donation to its literacy and aid partners worldwide. To date, more than 100,000 books have been donated within the UK and abroad as a result of AwesomeBooks sales, and more than 130 million books have been diverted from landfill. Unit sales in 2020 are expected to pass the five million mark.

Director Mubin Ahmed said: “Our conception of bookselling and retailing in general is that every transaction could and should be a force for social good, over and above simply the product being sold. Our customers share these values and have propelled our growth through the past year. We are delighted that Simon is joining the team to lead our work with suppliers and publishing partners in bringing fantastic deals to our customers and further energising what we believe to be a truly sustainable bookselling model.”

Mackay, a Bookseller Rising Star in 2018, added: “I am thrilled to be joining AwesomeBooks. Not only is it an exciting time for online bookselling, but new ethical approaches to retail have never felt quite so important. AwesomeBooks has ambitious plans for the future, including working with publishers to promote new and sustainable ways of bookselling which contribute to improving the world around us. I am incredibly excited to be part of that and look forward to working with publishers to sell their awesome books in the months ahead.”

He joins on 7th December and can be reached at smackay@awesomebooks.com.