The Quarto Group

The Quarto Group is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the United States and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The Quarto Group
Traded asLSE: QRT
Founded1976 (as The Quarto Group)
FoundersBob Morley, Michael Jackson, Laurence Orbach[1]
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters locationLondon
DistributionHachette (UK, US)[2][3]
Key people
  • Chuk Kin Lau, President
  • Andy Cumming, Chairman
  • Alison Goff, Group CEO [4]
ImprintsBelow
RevenueIncrease $ 151.5 [4] million (2021)
Official websitewww.quarto.com

Quarto creates and sells illustrated books for adults and children, across 50 countries and in 40 languages, through a variety of traditional and non-traditional channels. Quarto employs c.330 people in eight offices in London, Brighton, New York City, Boston, Seattle, Southern California and Hong Kong.[5] In July 2020, its publication This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell reached the Number 1 position on The New York Times bestseller list.[6]

The group was established by co-founders Laurence Orbach and Robert Morley and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1986.[7] Laurence Orbach was chairman and CEO until November 2012, when he was replaced as chairman by Tim Chadwick and Marcus Leaver as CEO.[8]

Chuk Kin Lau, the principal shareholder, became Group CEO in July 2018.[9] In February 2020, the Italian publisher, Giunti took a significant shareholding and Andrea Giunti joined Quarto's board of directors.[10][11]

In September 2020, Chuk Kin Lau became President and Polly Powell was appointed Group CEO. In January 2022, Alison Goff was appointed new Group CEO.[12]

History

The Quarto Group was founded by Bob Morley, Michael Jackson and Laurence Orbach in the early 1970s and was finally established as The Quarto Group in 1976.[13] In 1986, Quarto listed on the London stock exchange.[14]

By the late 1990s, Quarto had acquired three new imprints, Rotovision, Book Sales Inc and Rockport Publishers and founded Quarto Children's Books, Quintet and Quintessence that published art, health, lifestyle and children's books. The group expanded further in the US – with the addition of Book Sales, Rockport Publishers, Walter Foster, Creative Publishing International, Motorbooks, and more recently, Cool Springs Press. In the UK, Quarto grew by acquiring Aurum Press and then Jacqui Small in 2004.[15] By the 2000s, The Quarto Group had increased imprints and genres, along with this, a steady increase in its share value. In August 2011, The Quarto Group acquired independent UK book publisher Frances Lincoln for £4.5 million.[16]

In 2012, Marcus Leaver took over from Laurence Orbach as Group CEO[17] By 2014, the group had started two new children's imprints: Wide Eyed Editions and Words & Pictures,[18] and acquired Small World Creations. In 2015 Quarto acquired Ivy Press and Ivy Kids for £1.5m and continued its expansion[19] In 2016, Quarto acquired SmartLab and becker&mayer, a co-edition publisher based in Bellevue, WA, for $9.8 million.[20]

Quarto sold its last two non-publishing businesses in 2017 – Books & Gifts Direct (Australia/New Zealand) and Regent Publishing Services (Hong Kong) – and is now solely focused on its core publishing expertise.[21]

Awards
  • 2016 Waterstones Children's Book Prize – Illustrated Book: The Bear and the piano, by David Litchfield, published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.[22]
  • 2017 Waterstones Children's Book Prize – Illustrated Book: There’s a tiger in the garden, by Lizzy Stewart, published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.[23]
  • Blue Peter Book Awards 2019, Best Book with Facts: The Colours of History, by Clive Gifford, published by QED Publishing.[24]
  • British Book Awards 2018, Rights Professional of the Year: Karine Marko, Group Director of Foreign Rights at The Quarto Group.[25]

Controversy

Investigative research by the Financial Times found out that since 2020, Quarto has been censoring some of its books in order to allow them to be printed and sold in China. References to Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, and the Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei were deleted or altered, including in the award-winning book This Book is Anti-Racist.[26]

International publishing partnerships

The Quarto Group has launched a number of foreign-language imprints through international partnerships with foreign publishers. These include:

Quarto Editora

The Quarto Editora imprint was launched in Brazil in 2014 through an international publishing partnership with Brasil Franchising and their publishing business Editora Nobel. Quarto Editora publishes in categories such as cookery, beauty and self-help. Nobel Editora distributes the books through its franchises and main book trade channels.

Kalimat Quarto

Kalimat Quarto was launched in 2016 as an international publishing partnership with Sharjah-based Kalimat Group. The imprint publishes books in Arabic and distributes them throughout the Middle East and North Africa.[27]

Quarto Iberoamericana

Announced in May 2017, Quarto Iberoamericana is Quarto's Spanish language imprint launched in partnership with Argentina-based publisher Catapulta Editores S.L. The imprint publishes 20 books a year with the first six books, launching in Autumn 2017, in adult categories such as cookery, lifestyle and spirituality. Catapulta Editores will be responsible for sales and distribution in Spain, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. Quarto is expected to announce more partners to distribute the books in the rest of Latin America and North America in the near future.[28]

Imprints

Source: [29]

See also

References
  1. "The Quarto Group (UK): The Quarto Story". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  2. "Our Clients". Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  3. "Hachette - Our Clients". Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  4. "The Quarto Group Annual Report 2021" (PDF). The Quarto Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2022.
  5. "Investor Reports & Presentations | The Quarto Group". www.quarto.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  6. "Young Adult Paperback Books - Best Sellers - Books - July 12, 2020 - The New York Times". The New York Times. 19 July 2020. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  7. "The Quarto Grp Inc". Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  8. "Orbach removed as Quarto director". The Bookseller. 8 November 2012. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  9. "Orbach departs Quarto board | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  10. "The Quarto Group". Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  11. "Italy's Giunti Buys into U.K.'s Quarto Group". Publishers Weekly. 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  12. "Powell made group c.e.o. at Quarto". The Bookseller. 18 September 2020. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  13. Milliot, Jim (25 March 2016). "Quarto Group Comes of Age". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  14. "The Quarto Grp Inc". Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  15. "Quarto's Jacqui Small prepares to step down | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  16. Neill, Graeme (16 August 2011). "Quarto Snaps-up Frances Lincoln". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  17. "Directors & Dealings". Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  18. Eyre, charlotte (16 October 2014). "Quarto predicts annual profits 122m". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  19. Farringdon, Joshua (25 February 2015). "Quarto buys Ivy Press for £1.3m". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  20. "Quarto Buys Becker&Mayer". PublishersWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  21. Campbell, Lisa (24 March 2017). "Quarto disposes of Regent Publishing Services for $7m". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  22. Pauli, Michelle (17 March 2016). "David Solomons wins Waterstones prize with superhero story". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  23. Kean, Danuta (30 March 2017). "Waterstones children's book prize goes to 'mesmerising' debut adventure story". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  24. "6 Books You Should Buy For Your Kids, According To Blue Peter Book Awards". HuffPost UK. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  25. "2018 Winners | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  26. Telling, Oliver (15 March 2022). "British publishers censor books for western readers to appease China". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  27. "Stock Exchange". 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  28. Cowdry, Catherine (26 April 2016). "Quarto launches Spanish language imprint: Quarto Iberoamericana". Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  29. "Our Imprints | The Quarto Group". www.quarto.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
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