06.08.18 www.thebookseller.com


THE LEAD STORY IGLOO BOOKS


07


THE DISNEY CONNECTION


One of Gregory’s major responsibilities is looking after Igloo’s Disney publishing after Perminder Mann, Bonnier Publishing’s UK c.e.o., signed a deal with the media giant last year.


Gregory: “We have to be profitable. Sales growth is nice but not if it comes at the expense of profit.”


but particularly ones in growth, need to remain agile. Our focus is a staff structure that has the best people but also the right number of people: an efficient business with great staff that love their role.”


THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE There are also international plans. “We are looking around the world to find distribution solutions for key territories and in Germany we are transferring the business to another Bonnier business, Blank,” said Gregory. “We would love to expand in Scandinavia and the US is a key growth area.” Earlier this year Bonnier Publishing


saw its chief executive Richard Johnson depart abruptly, with the business appointing as an interim c.e.o. Jim Zetterlund, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of


Bonnier Publishing’s Swedish parent company, Bonnier Books. At the time, Zetterlund highlighted


profitability concerns for the UK business and said his priority was a new strategy for a “sustainable, long- term future”, a sentiment Gregory agrees with: “We have to be profitable. Sales growth is nice but not if it comes at the expense of profit. This business will be profitable. “Mass market is so different [from trade publishing]. You have to have entrepreneurial skills, the buying and selling skills of a remainder dealer, the ability to publish and print like a trade publisher . . . and we supply every facet of the retail industry, from Aldi and Lidl to Matalan and Poundland. We always say we have to think like a retailer, because we have to. We have to adapt to how the retailer wants to sell books.”


Gregory said the deal is one of the reasons he took the job and a “breakthrough” for Igloo, which will produce 170 titles this year via its Autumn imprint. The contract covers Disney, Pixar, Marvel and LucasFilms and “most” formats, excluding some such as annuals and soundbooks. Highlights include middle-grade novels, already taken by Asda and Tesco, and an upcoming advent calendar that comes with 24 individually wrapped Disney stories. Parragon—where Gregory worked between 2004 and 2015—previously had the UK’s major Disney licence but Gregory dismisses the idea that its losing of the licence, and the subsequent closure of the business, was any reflection on the strength of the brand. “[Retail demand] only fluctuates with the strength of the movies. The core base of princesses, Pixar, ‘Toy Story’, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse . . . is always there, and next year we’ve got ‘Frozen 2’, which will be enormous. In 2019 the sales will be massive.” He said he “doesn’t know” why Disney and Parragon didn’t continue their relationship but stressed that Parragon’s failure was not a reflection of the sector it was in. Disney book sales have, over the past 15 years, fluctuated annually by as much as 25%, based on the strength of the licence, and “not one retailer” has pulled away from the brand, Gregory said. “Parragon increased sales, at peak, five-fold from Penguin [which had a licence before Parragon]. It did an incredible job but, for whatever reason, it fell apart.” On the back of the original deal, Igloo Books has secured further contracts for Disney and Marvel franchises overseas, including Southeast Asia, South Africa and Greece. The coedition team will promote the products in more than 50 countries. “Parragon was our one big competitor, but it’s gone. We are capitalising on that,” Gregory said.


Igloo is releasing 170 Disney titles through its Autumn imprint this year, including Middle- Grade fiction novels (top), story books (middle) and an advent calendar (bottom)


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