The Bookseller.com

8th September 2008

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Winstone exits Waterstone’s

03.10.07 Joel Rickett

Waterstone’s children’s books chief Wayne Winstone is leaving the retailer at the end of November. He joined the chain last August from Ottakar’s with the aim of transforming Waterstone’s approach to children’s bookselling. Waterstone’s said that the decision was made by Winstone after his daily commute from Wiltshire to Brentford had "proved too much"; it added that "he does not have another job to go to."

But the retailer said it was still "totally committed" to growing children's books sales, and will recruit for a new children’s category manager. Fiction chief Toby Bourne will take over responsibility for the children’s team until a successor is found.

Commercial director Neil Jewsbury said: "Wayne has done a great job in shaping the future of children’s at Waterstone's. I am appreciative of the vision, effort and passion that Wayne has shown in developing the children's category and would like to thank him for his contribution. We have developed a very strong children’s team within the last year and have commenced many new promotional and store format initiatives. As you would expect we will be sorry to see Wayne leave us but I can assure you we remain totally committed to developing and growing our children’s business in the future."

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