The Bookseller.com

17th May 2008

Neill Denny is editor-in-chief of The Bookseller. He will be blogging on the book business and on how the print magazine is produced each week.

Why has David gone?

31.01.08

The initial reaction to David Roche's departure was one of shock. The news came late on a Wednesday afternoon, the magazine's press day, and meant that we had to remake the front page.  We put it out on the web within minutes of getting of getting the initial statements, and by the time I got to Doris Lessing's very posh Nobel prize do at 7.30 the first question everyone in publishing there asked me was: why has David gone?

One clue may have been under my nose all along: in the magazine this week we have a formal double-page interview with Luke Johnson, in which, on second reading, he makes few if any remarks about David. The interview was conducted 10 days or so ago, but in retrospect the omission is telling.

So what lies behind David's departure?  I think Luke is very much is own man, and thinks he has what it takes to move Borders to the next level.  David is an equally ambitious character, delighted to have finally got the top job after missing out when he was at Waterstone's.  It is quite one thing running Borders in the UK with the owners down a phone line in the US; it's a very different thing having an interventionist, entrepreneurial owner with his own ideas in the same city.

There are some key questions the chain needs to settle: the future or lack of it of Books Etc, whether to trim the store portfolio out-of-town, how to balance the product mix, how to deal with the franchisees – you name it, big strategic issues to resolve, any one of which could have lit the blue touch paper between David and Luke.  And in Philip Downer, Luke has all the experience he needs in the business to run it effectively day-to-day.

The mood at Doris' party was shock, David is highly rated across the industry, and the general view is that we can ill afford to lose such a talented retailer from the book industry.  Certainly, the positive Christmas figures put out by Borders last week are a testament to the impact David has had in his short(ish) time at the helm.  David, from Waterstone's to the BA to Borders,  has garnered support: he hits the numbers, but you always feel you are dealing with a real person, not a corporate clone. I hope we see him back in top role very soon.

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