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HarperCollins' group sales and marketing director David Roche is leaving the publisher at the end of this year. Roche joined HarperCollins in August 2008, initially as a consultant, after he left Borders UK earlier that year.
HarperCollins said that following a restructure of the UK and international sales divisions, the role of group sales and marketing director would be made redundant. Simon Johnson, group commercial and business development director, has been appointed managing director, commercial and will have responsibility for strategy, business development, commercial finance, sales and rights. The publisher's digital business will also report into Johnson and publisher Belinda Budge.
Roche said: "When Vicky [Barnsley. HC c.e.o.] asked me to implement the sales and trade marketing strategy I had proposed while consulting, I agreed to commit to two years with the company. The new sales teams are now in place divisionally, the group function is coordinated across key accounts, field sales, local sales and marketing and we have genuine strengths of leadership and experience across our non-trade, international and export education functions.
"The conclusion of this phase seems the right time to make the break and for me to move on. Having moved a step closer to rights from retail, this definitely seems the right direction for me and I intend to remain involved in the publishing world in some capacity. I know that the sales team we have brought together will be highly successful."
Barnsley said: "I am hugely grateful to David whose enormous energy and dynamism has helped us put together a top-class sales team, within the right structure to deliver the best possible service to our customers and to the business. He has been a great asset to HarperCollins and will be much missed."
Barnsley said: "Our businesses are evolving at lightning speed and we need to ensure we are well equipped to capitalise on all the new opportunities a changing environment affords. Simon has already brought enormous clarity to our thinking with his strategic and analytical skills. In this new more operational role, in addition to running business development, strategy and the commercial finance teams, he will be responsible for the all-important revenue-driving functions of sales and rights, while also ensuring that the digital strategy is at the heart of our business."
Johnson said: "I am very much looking forward to the challenge of managing the commercial functions of HarperCollins building on the excellent work David has done in sales and bringing the other commercial functions much closer to sales. The book market has already changed dramatically, and the next few years will undoubtedly herald an even more radically different landscape. We all want to ensure that HarperCollins is well-positioned to capitalise on and benefit from these changes."