Salt makes plans for Manchester relocation  

Salt is relocating to Manchester in 2024 after 25 years operating from East Anglia. The independent publisher cited “commercial, cultural and community” factors for the decision. 

Salt began publishing in Cambridge in 1999, before moving to the north Norfolk coast in 2011. The company has published over 1,000 works since its inception, recently won the East Anglian Book of the Year, and has been been nominated twice for the Booker Prize. 

The effect of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic on sales and costs drove the independent publisher towards looking to relocate, a process that has taken five years, according to Salt director Christopher Hamilton-Emery. 

He told The Bookseller: “We have many publisher pals in the north-west and it became clear that Manchester would be the perfect location for next phase of Salt’s recovery plans. We have a deep existing connection to the city, one of our editors lives there, we have a wide range of writers in the area, family and friends.” 

Salt will not be joining the Northern Fiction Alliance ranks yet, saying, “It’s too early to ask and we’ll settle into the city first”. Hamilton-Emery added: “We have made new acquaintances with the team behind Manchester City of Literature and we hope to join their social events in 2024.” The team, he said, will be based out of a shared office space in Manchester’s newest skyscraper, Three60. 

Hamilton-Emery concluded: “We’re moving back to my home city – it is packed with memories of books and writers – and the place where Jen [fellow Salt director Jen Hamilton-Emery] and I first met. The city has been culturally transformed by new publishers and writers and booksellers as well as its City of Literature status. It’s a very exciting moment to be joining our colleagues in the north. We hope to play a small part in the ongoing cultural resurgence of the city.”