Little, Brown UK announced last week that Philippa Harrison will be stepping down as chief executive and publisher of the company on May 1. Following a two-month sabbatical, Harrison will become nonexecutive chairman of the company and will also acquire and edit her own books as well as oversee Virago Modern Classics. David Young, who has been managing director of LB UK for three years, will become chief executive upon Harrison's retirement, and the company has begun a search for a new publisher.
Harrison joined Macdonald & Co. in 1991; after the company went bankrupt with the collapse of the Maxwell empire, she played a major role in resurrecting the company as Little, Brown UK. LB UK has been one of Britain's steadiest performing publishers and in its most recent quarter reported that sales doubled and profits quintupled. Harrison said she decided to step down because "we are in the midst of another radical change in the book business, and it is time for the company, too, to change as we enter a new era."
In addition to her duties at Little, Brown, Harrison served as president of the Publishers Association. She observed that her years with the P.A. have given her "a useful background for the strategic concerns of a nonexecutive chairman."
