Tim Godfray, chief executive of the U.K.-based trade organization the Booksellers Association (BA) since 1984, is stepping back from the day-to-day management of projects at the group, with Meryl Halls moving up to the role of managing director. Godfray will be executive chair of the BA Group.

Alan Staton, head of marketing and communications, also moves up, to director of strategy and communication.

Godfray, in addition to his CEO role, holds a number of other positions in the U.K. literary world, being, among other things, director of Book Tokens and Batch, a trustee of World Book Day, and a member of the executive board of the European and International Booksellers Federation. In his new role, he will oversee the wider BA Group, which spans the BA, Batch and National Book Tokens..

Halls is currently BA head of membership services. She has been involved in all of the association's campaign work, including Books Are My Bag, Independent Bookshop Week, the Independent Booksellers Forum, and IndieBound; she also works closely with colleagues across the BA Group on policy and communications work. She will take on the managing director role in April.

Staton has worked at the BA for 13 years, having previously been marketing manager at wholesaler Bertrams. He will lead on strategy and policy agendas, focusing on publisher representation and collaborations, trade partnerships, and BA special interest groups. He will work closely with Halls and a yet-to-be-appointed head of campaigns on the consolidation, development and re-focusing of BA campaigning. He will retain responsibilities for the BA and Academic Conferences, and will take on the Irish and Scottish events.

Rosamund de la Hey, BA president, said of the restructure: "It is a great testament to the strength of the BA as an organization that these changes represent both continuity and innovation. Meryl has, for many years, been a driving force for the voice of booksellers in all parts of the market, enabling booksellers to connect with each other, constantly finding ways to push their businesses forward in a time of such rapid change. And Alan's clear thinking and calm vision can only benefit booksellers further in this new role. We are very fortunate to be able to retain the wise counsel of Tim in his new role of executive chair."

A version of this article originally appeared in the U.K. trade publication BookBrunch.