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Nina Findley, commercial director of The Works, is the latest speaker to join the line-up for FutureBook22, The Bookseller’s publishing conference.
Findley joins former Lego c.e.o. Bali Padda, Bloomsbury chief executive Nigel Newton, xigxag founder Kelli Fairbrother, and the writer Travis Alabanza, as one of the keynote speakers at the event on 18th November. Findley will be interviewed in person by The Bookseller’s editor Philip Jones, reflecting on a period of exceptional growth and repositioning at the high street retailer.
Operating from 525 stores and online, The Works grew its sales by 50% in its past financial year to £264.6m, and is now aiming to become a serious destination for readers looking for both budget backlist but also increasingly front-list titles. Findley, who joined the business in June 2021, has helped steer the retailer through the changes, which have seen a broader range of consumers come into stores. “It’s really encouraging and exciting,” she told The Bookseller earlier this year. “We have a real role to play in the book market and I think publishers are supporting us with that and are keen to help us continue down that road.”
Findley will discuss the firm’s strategic ambitions, as well as its push into children’s books as it looks to become “the go-to place for reading, learning, creativity and play”. She will also talk about the firm’s commitment to making its 525 stores accessible to all book buyers through its value-led pricing.
Jones said: “The Works is now an important player when publishers are thinking about selling books on the high street, with the retailer’s ambitions and its current repositioning indicating that this is a company that wants to get serious about selling books to its customers. For publishers and authors this may represent a good opportunity to get more books in front of more people at a time when book buyers are only going to get more sensitive about the cost of books. I’m delighted that Nina has agreed to be interviewed for our biggest and boldest FutureBook Conference yet.”
FutureBook22 will host more than 60 speakers, featuring sessions on recruiting tomorrow’s talent, writing across cultural divides, activist bookselling, working class publishing and specialist markets. The event also features showcases exploring the year’s most impactful startups, sustainability solutions and campaigns from companies large and small including Faber, Bloomsbury, Penguin Random House, HQ, Perlego, Ludenso and Storymix. In addition, there will be insights from Spotify, Arts Emergency, Waterstones, Creative Access, Dialogue Books and more.
The conference, now in its 12th year, is themed around Common Ground: the idea that if publishing is to get stronger, smarter and more sustainable, it needs to find better ways of working together. The full programme can be viewed at thebookseller.com/futurebook-programme, with tickets available online or via head of publisher relations Emma Lowe (emma.lowe@thebookseller.com).