Quarto to close Bristol office amid reorganisation

Illustrated publishing group Quarto is "repositioning" some of its UK-based imprints which will see the closure of its Yate office in Bristol in 2018. 

The company said the reorganisation was an effort to "re-energise" its publishing programme and "keep it relevant to readers and customers in an ever-changing market".

Small World Creations, acquired by Quarto in 2014, will be brought under the umbrella of Quarto’s London-based group of children’s imprints Young Quarto, resulting in the closure of Quarto’s Yate office in Bristol in 2018. Small World Creations' publisher, Debbie Backhouse, has decided to leave the business "to pursue other interests", according to Quarto's statement.

Nine people work at Small World Creations in the Yate office in total. Of those, the publisher has only been able to confirm that two are staying with the company; Donna Webber, sales director, and another employee in the sales team. The Bookseller understands it is unlikely that the seven remaining staff, whose jobs are spread across editorial, production and art direction roles, will remain with the company, although Quarto said it is currently "exploring options" at this stage.

Ther firm added: "Quarto does not expect to see a significant job impact from these changes and is committed to explore all options and support its staff towards new opportunities should there be any job losses."

Small World Creations joins Young Quarto, which children's division now consists of Quarto Children’s Books, QED/QEB Publishing words & pictures and Small World Creations, led by group publisher Zeta Jones.

Jones said: “I am delighted to bring Small World into Young Quarto and to offer customers an integrated 0-10+ range. We have a dynamic creative team with unique expertise and we look forward to seizing new opportunities within the children's publishing market."

Both Backhouse, publisher, and Webber, sales director, will work closely with Zeta until the end of the year to ensure "the best transition" for Small World. In early 2018, Webber will integrate into Jones’ team while Backhouse has decided to leave the business.

Meanwhile, on the adult side, Richard Green, currently publisher for Aurum Press, has been promoted to group publisher, which will see him oversee adult imprints Aurum Press, Frances Lincoln and Quintessence. 

In his new role as group publisher, Green will work with three publishers: Philip Cooper, publisher for Quintessence; Andrew Dunn, publisher for Frances Lincoln; and Kerry Enzor, previously publisher for Quantum Books and Apple Press, who will become publisher for Aurum Press. Together, they are conducting "a full review" of their group’s publishing programmes and will look to "consolidate, strengthen and re-focus their lists for future growth".

Marcus Leaver, chief executive of The Quarto Group, commented: “Quarto is a nimble organisation and we constantly strive to keep our portfolio dynamic to ensure that we remain market-focused and relevant to our readers and customers. The creative quality of our content and books will always be our number one priority. We have a fantastic team of people who craft the best ideas for our imprints and our customers – which is what ultimately makes us successful.”

Quarto last month terminated discussions with a potential bidder to acquire the company.  Chief executive Marcus Leaver said discussions weren’t moving fast enough and he hadn’t wanted shareholders or staff to be "living in limbo" until March or April the following year.

2017 has been a transitional year for the group, following its change in strategy to commit fully to books publishing. It reported a 17% publishing profit rise in 2016, when its children's publishing revenues were up an impressive 34%, but in July the company issued a profit warning for 2017.