The Folio Society, a book publisher that is wedded to high production values, has become an Employee Ownership Trust. The step ends the direct involvement of the Gavron family with the business, though Kate Gavron becomes chair of Folio Trustee Ltd, representing the interests of the Folio Society’s 40 employees. Brian Edwards, former CEO of St Ives, becomes non executive chairman.
Her husband Bob Gavron, founder of the St Ives print group, had rescued the publisher in 1982, providing much needed funds because of its commitment to publishing high quality books. Today the Folio Society continues this ethos, publishing around 60 titles a year. It frequently wins awards for its titles, being nominated 11 times in the British Book Design & Production Awards in 2021 alone, winning the literature category with an edition of The Phantom of the Opera. It was printed and bound by Eberl & Kösel in Germany, which along with Lego and Graphicom in Italy, is a regular supplier. Pureprint produced an edition of Thomas Hardy’s poems, which was shortlisted in this year’s awards.
Next year the Folio Society is due to celebrate its 75th anniversary with no doubts about its ability to survive. “We are very excited about our future. We have growth opportunities across the world but especially in the US and UK,” says CEO Joanna Reynolds. “The business has grown over 30% in the past three years and that is set to continue. We produce some of the most beautiful books in the world, produced to the highest standards, they are works of art. We have wonderful and engaged customers who are happy to say what books interest them.”
The books are sold to the Folio Society’s members around the globe, or through the publisher’s website. There are no sales through bookshops, let alone Amazon. And there are no plans to change this.
Reynolds has driven the transition to an EOT and will continue to lead the business. Likewise, Urmi Dutta-Roy continues as CFO, Tom Walker as publishing director, Emma Lawson as marketing director and Mark Mainstone as business services director.
Kate Gavron says: “The shareholders are delighted by the creation of an EOT for the Folio Society. I am certain that my late husband, Bob Gavron, would have approved enthusiastically. Folio is a publisher of beautiful books, created to the highest editorial standards and with outstanding design and illustration. It is fitting that the new owners should be the employees, as they are the people who have made it what it is today.”
The staff have, on average, worked for the company for more than ten years from premises in central London. There is a spread from 32 years to two weeks.
Reynolds adds that the EOT model “is a progressive, innovative, industry leading approach that reflects our values and will position the business strongly for the future. The people who have driven the business forward and who will continue to strive for excellence in everything we do, will own Folio. We believe that our authors, illustrators and other key partners will celebrate with us in this positive step towards the next 75 years of Folio’s story. We love the books we publish and know they can only get even better”.
While many of the titles that the Folio Society has chosen to publish can be regarded as classics of world literature or non fiction, it is not shy of producing works by science fiction writers like Frank Herbert’s Dune or Philip K Dick’s short stories. It has also produced a series focused on Marvel’s Heroes including Captain America and Spiderman.
