PRH closes down B2B arm Penguin Connect

Penguin Random House has closed down its B2B events arm Penguin Connect following the departure of the head of the team from the business, The Bookseller understands. 

Penguin Connect, formerly headed up by Jonathan Phillips, connected businesses with authors for events such as conferences and workshops, and comprised a small team of three staff members.

A Penguin Random House UK spokesperson confirmed in a statement: “We have taken the decision to close our small B2B events arm, Penguin Connect.”

Team member Ain Chiara used her YouTube channel on 31st May to announce her departure from the Penguin Connect team and publishing more broadly, revealing she had been told “the department that I worked in was going to be shut down”.

She said in the video: “It’s now official, I am leaving publishing. There are so many feelings that come with this step and it’s a huge step for me. I am still passionate about the industry, and I’ve loved going through it all. It’s been the one thing I’ve focused on since I was at uni and my biggest dream since I was a kid so this feels like a monumental moment. 

“The way it’s happening is so surreal. I am leaving Penguin. I work in events and it’s been rough with Covid and everything and despite my best efforts my role never returned to what it was before.”

Chiara, who worked at Oxford University Press before joining PRH, went on to say: “It hasn’t been a dramatic exit from the company or the industry, it’s just that I think I have outgrown what I can do in the publishing industry and feel called to do something different.”

The Bookseller understands that the third member of the team has also exited the business.