The Bookseller.com

7th October 2008

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Hachette consolidates in Ireland

29.11.07 Alison Flood

Hodder Headline Ireland and Little, Brown Ireland are merging to form Hachette Book Group Ireland, which will be the largest publishing group in Ireland. The new company will be headed up by Hodder Headline Ireland m.d. Breda Purdue and Jim Binchy, who is sales and marketing director for Ireland and Asia Pacific at Little, Brown. The changes will take effect from 1st January next year.

Octopus will join the new group during 2008; Hachette said that "for the foreseeable future" Orion would remain with its existing distributor Gill Hess Associates. Each company will have dedicated sales management, publicity, marketing and product representation.

Purdue will become group m.d. for publishing and PR, and will maintain her responsibility for the Irish list and Hachette Children's books, Headline, Hodder & Stoughton and John Murray. Binchy will be group m.d. for sales and marketing, taking responsibility for overall group sales, marketing and operational issues while retaining his existing responsibilities for Little, Brown and also taking on Octopus.

The Hachette Books Ireland editorial team will consist of senior editors Ciara Considine and Claire Rourke and editorial manager Ciara Doorley. Margaret Daly, currently PR manager for Little, Brown, will take on PR responsibility for the wider group, reporting to Purdue.

The sales and marketing team will consist of group sales manager Ruth Shern, who will have responsibility for Octopus, group sales manager Siobhan Tierney who will have responsibility for Hachette Children’s Books, Northern Ireland sales agent John McMahon and commercial manager Peter McNulty.

Martin Neild, who becomes chairman of the board of Hachette Book Group Ireland, said: "Breda, Jim and our Irish team are absolutely the best. I am delighted that we have been able to bring them together in a way which will provide the best possible service for all our agents, authors and booksellers in Ireland."

Purdue added: "I am very much looking forward to working with Jim to make HBGI the biggest and most successful publisher and sales and marketing organisation in Ireland." And Binchy said: "This new venture will mark an incredible time in the Irish book trade. HBGI will undoubtedly be the most successful publisher and sales organisation in Ireland, as the knowledge and experience of the people therein is second to none. It will be terrific working with Breda, and the rest of the team, I know how highly respected they are within the trade, and together we will make HBGI the success it so richly deserves to be."

International Hachette Ireland Alison Flood