Revenues at Hachette UK grew by 6.1% in 2023, largely thanks to “a number of very successful Adult Trade titles” including the first two volumes of Rebecca Yarros’ The Empyrean trilogy and two titles by Freida McFadden (The Housemaid and The Housemaid’s Secret).
CEO David Shelley said: “Last year was a fantastic year across our business and we achieved HUK’s highest ever Total Consumer Market share in the year, of 13.6%; we also grew our e-book sales and strengthened our position as the number one e-book publisher in the UK market.
“These record results were supported by good performance across the whole of Hachette UK, especially in the case of Little, Brown and Bookouture. It was also a very good year for Hodder & Stoughton and Headline, supported by the excellent results from our newest acquisition, Welbeck. I am immensely proud of Hodder Education’s excellent performance in a challenging education market. Our industry-leading distribution business continues to excel; it was another brilliant year with multiple new publisher clients and exceptional operational performance.”
He also highlighted the organisation’s commitment to “cultural growth and driving change with our Changing the Story initiative”. He said: “The ongoing growth of our National Offices perfectly demonstrates our commitment to regional diversity in our workforce. In 2023, our staff population outside London grew to 120 across our hubs in Bristol, Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh and Sheffield, where we are actively driving recruitment in our new office that accommodates up to 100 people.”