You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Egmont Publishing has restructured some of its departments and a number of staff have been made redundant, The Bookseller understands.
The publisher has declined to confirm or deny the redundancies but The Bookseller understands that a cluster of jobs have been cut from the licensing department.
In a statement, the company said only: “Egmont Publishing UK has decided to review and restructure particular departments and teams within our organisation in order to continue to build on our local strengths, including a broad and commercial portfolio supported by outstanding children’s book and magazine publishing expertise and unique consumer insight.”
Earlier this year Egmont UK said sales fell 1.4% in what it described as a “tough economic environment” in 2017. The company, the UK arm of Denmark’s The Egmont Group, said sales were “strong” in the 12 months ending 31st December but that the competition in book and magazine sales was fierce.
In 2015 the company restructured its licensing business by creating two divisions: Global Licensing Management (to aquire global licenses and sell international rights for intellectual property, led by Italy-based Silvia Figini) and Global Content Development, led by Rob McMenemy, c.e.o. of Egmont Publishing.
At the time, McNenemy said: “From evergreen brands like Thomas the Tank Engine, to our groundbreaking publishing of Minecraft, we have some of the best licensed properties on our list and this new global set up ensures Egmont is now better placed than ever to continue to deliver the very best publishing in books and magazines for our licensing partners."