Our values

Bonnier Books UK values and ethics

Above all, our purpose is to publish great books. We exist to share stories and content that will entertain, educate and inform our readers and listeners, and we do this in a way that reflects the values our company has held dear for generations.

 

It’s our responsibility to define the narrative and pen the future we want to see for our company but also the wider publishing industry. We’re committed to plotting a path towards a better, fairer future – and believe that our core values will help take us there.

 

At Bonnier Books UK, we believe every book matters. Here are the other things that matter to us the most:

Freedom of speech

Every perspective matters

 

  • Our purpose is to publish great books. Reading and listening can open our eyes to possibility and give hope. Stories and content can allow us to dream. They can challenge us and, as publishers, we must be comfortable being the instigators and facilitators of debate.

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  • Great books can come from anywhere. Being truly inclusive means accepting that people have views that are different to our own. This is how we feed our empathy, break down barriers and divisions in society and drive social change.

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  • We strive to be representative and publish a diverse range of people for a diverse range of readers and listeners. Our authors and illustrators hail from all walks of life, and we are committed to building a supportive environment where they can fulfil their creative potential.

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  • Our publishing teams are expert at what they do and we give them the freedom to make their own decisions. They publish commercially, with our values and ethics in mind, and so we support them every step of the way.

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  • We may not always agree with the books we publish or share the personal views of our authors and illustrators. As publishers, we must embrace diversity of thought, while acting with integrity – to support us in this, we sometimes call on sensitivity readers and fact checkers.

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  • We recognise there are some limits to freedom of speech. As a society, we have a shared duty to stand against hate speech and discrimination. We will not shy away from this responsibility.

Passion for books

Every story matters

 

  • Great books can change the world. They have the power to transport us to different worlds, offering perspectives we’ve never considered and bringing us closer to one another.

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  • We believe in publishing for everyone. To build a relevant, sustainable publishing business for the future, we must broaden the book-buying market, seeking to represent, inspire and reach out to all people.

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  • We publish into every corner of the market, for every kind of reader and listener. To do this, we partner with a broad range of retailers: from independent bookshops to museums, supermarkets to discount stores. We trust their understanding of their customers and we sell our books with vigour.

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  • Our passion for books is the foundation of our relationships with our authors, illustrators, the agent community and customers. It keeps us humble and spurs us on to deliver more books to more readers.

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  • We’re inspired by our literary heritage, but we’re not bound by convention. We know that our future success will come from thinking unconventionally and finding new ways to do things. We will embrace new formats and constantly seek to engage a broader audience of readers and listeners.

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  • We are committed to instilling a lifelong love of reading. To help improve literacy rates, we donate thousands of our books to young readers and listeners each year.

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  • Because every book we publish matters, we focus unapologetically on the books that we know we can publish better than anyone else. We publish onto smaller lists, so our books don’t compete for attention. In a crowded and noisy world, we strive to publish fewer, better books.

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  • We’re proud of our production values – from casting the best talent to narrate our audiobooks to carefully selecting finishes that enhance our physical books. The standard of what we produce must live up to the content of what we publish.

Commitment of a family-owned company

Every future matters

 

  • As a 200-year-old family-owned company, we can afford to take a long-term view; we think in terms of generations, not quarters.

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  • We are proud of our history, but this doesn’t dull our ambitions for the future or make us complacent – we’ve come this far, and we plan on still being here for decades to come.

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  • We value long-term customer relationships over short-term gains: we try to think from the perspective of our buyers and anticipate their needs.

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  • The world we inhabit is precious. We want to make a positive and lasting impact by publishing ethically and sustainably for future generations. We’ve already taken our business ‘beyond carbon neutral’ and we’re committed to continuing to reduce our environmental impact however we can.

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  • We strive to be representative – creating equality of opportunity wherever we find it lacking and widening our doors, reaching out to people who might not instinctively have considered a career in publishing.

Empowering individuals

Every voice matters

 

  • We attract and recruit fantastic people and we empower them to do their best work. This means offering them the flexibility they need to deliver results.

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  • We are open to different ways of working. We are ready to adapt to ensure that our teams thrive and that every individual has the best chance of fulfilling their potential.

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  • We are not hierarchical. We start from a place of trust and rely on good working relationships to get things done.

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  • We empower our sales teams, which gives them the freedom to build deep connections with our customers and think in new ways to solve their problems.

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  • No one person has all the answers. We actively listen, seek out new perspectives and embrace opportunities to learn. Together we’re stronger – as a business and as a publisher.

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  • We celebrate each other as individuals. We all have different backgrounds and experiences that shape who we are, and everyone is encouraged to share and bring their whole self to their work.

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  • We sometimes disagree with one another, but we will always show respect across diversity and kindness even in conflict.

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  • To succeed as one team, we strive to always show personal responsibility and accountability, acting with honesty and integrity.