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The History Press c.e.o Tony Morris is to relinquish his role this month, having overseen payment of the last of the outstanding royalties from the publisher’s days as NPI. Deputy c.e.o Stuart Biles, whom Morris brought into the company from BBC Books, will take over the reins.
Morris, who will stay on as a board director, said he was stepping down because his "assignment has been completed". He said: "We undertook to pay [authors’ royalties] in full – even though we weren’t legally obliged to do so. We gave a resounding and unequivocal public commitment. We set out a clear timetable. We have kept our promise to the letter and to the pound, in fact to the many hundreds of thousands of pounds. We asked to be judged by our actions. Our actions have spoken."
Mark Le Fanu, secretary general at the Society of Authors, commended Morris for his efforts. "He has done well to stabilise the NPI imprints, develop The History Press and pay arrears of royalties," Le Fanu said. "The grumbles seem to be dying away and in difficult circumstances the press appears to be thriving - certainly compared to a couple of years ago. Long may it continue."
The unpaid royalties herald back to the demise of NPI, which was bought out of pre-pack administration late in 2007. At that time Alan Sutton, who had founded the group, left. He has since set up another local history imprint, Amberley Publishing.
Morris, who came in as chief executive when The History Press was formed from the assets of NPI in December 2007, oversaw a major restructure of the company, including the appointment of a finance director, outsourcing the printing and formatting of books and unifying the sales teams into one. The company’s website has also been relaunched, the backlist has been repackaged and a new unified book design been implemented.
In the course of the restructuring, two people have been made redundant. However, THP is now recruiting four commissioning editors for the UK, and is planning to open offices in Chicago and Dublin this year.
Morris said he was "full of admiration" for the "indomitable spirit of our staff" throughout 2008. Although it was a year of "difficult circumstances", he said THP had recorded a group turnover of £12.7m, and was planning to publish 675 titles in 2009.
Andy Nash, chairman of the group, said: "Tony and his team have worked miracles. It was always his determination to hand over after a year and we respect that. We are delighted that he will be continuing to advise and support THP at a strategic level."