Commercial acumen and publishing empathy made her the natural choice.
Children’s publishing group Egmont UK announced today that Fiona Clarke has been appointed Managing Director of Egmont Books with effect from 30th September. Previously Managing Director of the Educational & Children’s Division of Oxford University Press, Fiona succeeds Susannah McFarlane who, as previously announced, is returning to Australia with her family.
Announcing the appointment, Egmont UK Chief Executive Julie Goldsmith said: “Fiona’s combination of commercial acumen and empathy for the publishing process made her the natural choice to continue the task of growing Egmont’s share of the children’s book market. Her impressive track record at OUP shows that she can build a business and manage a successful company, and her open and inspiring leadership style is perfectly suited to the culture here at Egmont.”
Fiona Clarke said: “I empathise very much with Egmont’s strategy of progress through empowerment and nurturing talent, and I am very excited about the potential of the company. Work is about achievement and results, but it should also be fun, and at Egmont, this seems to be an attitude which permeates from the top down. I look forward to taking the company on to the next stage in its development.”
Fiona Clarke has been in publishing for over 25 years, most of them at Oxford University Press. She joined Prentice Hall International as Foreign Rights Assistant after graduating from Oxford University in 1976, moving to OUP as an Editor in 1977. She moved steadily up the editorial ladder to the new post of Editorial Director for schools, dictionaries and children’s reference titles and was appointed Managing Director of the Educational & Children’s Division in 1989. She developed such successful projects as the Oxford Reading Tree and transformed the children’s list into a profitable and substantial part of the Division.
As Managing Director of Egmont Books, Fiona Clarke will join Julie Goldsmith, CFO Michael Main and Egmont Magazines MD Rob McMenemy on the management group of Egmont UK.
