Bloomsbury is restructuring, creating three vertical business units, each operating with its own editorial, sales, marketing and publicity, rights, and audio departments. Previously, the company had operated with three major editorial divisions serviced by a global sales, marketing, and publicity division.
The three units will be Bloomsbury Global Academic & Professional, Bloomsbury USA, and Bloomsbury Consumer UK. The new structure takes effect on June 1 and is designed to streamline operations, strengthen international reach, and accelerate the company's growth strategy. An estimated 55 jobs across the U.K. and U.S. will be affected by the changes.
The restructuring has been led by a small group of executives, including Ian Hudson, managing director of consumer, U.K., who will retire at the end of June, but remain with the company as a consultant.
In other changes, Kathleen Farrar will become managing director of Bloomsbury Consumer U.K. Jenny Ridout's responsibilities expand to leading Bloomsbury Global Academic & Professional and she has been appointed to Bloomsbury's board of directors.
Sabrina McCarthy will lead Bloomsbury USA, continuing to oversee U.S. consumer publishing while also assuming responsibility for U.S. academic and professional sales, marketing, and publicity, in alignment with Ridout's global academic strategy. All three will report to founder and CEO Nigel Newton.
Vafa Payman assumes a new role as managing director, APAC and corporate development, bringing together Australia, India, Singapore, and the company's joint venture in China under unified leadership, and joins the executive committee.
"The new organizational structure creates a clearer, more agile framework that will enable us to deliver the next phase of Bloomsbury's growth," Newton said. "By aligning our business units more closely with our key markets, we can respond to changing tastes and customer preferences, strengthening our international and digital capabilities, and leverage new technologies."