Thursday, June 02, 2011

WHITCOULLS - rumours are swirling around

The latest I have heard is a rumour that Joan McKenzie will rejoin her new "old" employer in the role of chief book buyer. Paper Plus may be sorry to see her go but it is good news for NZ publishers and NZ book buyers.

I gather former CEO Ian Draper is running the show again so it will be interesting to see if he recruits any of his other former colleagues, in addition to JOan McKenzie. That redundancy money Whitcoulls paid out when it let them all go a while back will be seeming even sweeter now!

An hour after writing the above I received The Read from Booksellers NZ which confirms the above as now being official - here is their report:

Joan Mackenzie leaving PaperPlus

It is probably no surprise to the industry that she will join Whitcoulls when the purchase is completed by Anne and David Norman via their company Project Mark Ltd.
Joan has been headhunted to lead the book buying operations of the 57 Whitcoulls and five Borders stores when the sale is completed mid June.
Ian Draper, a former managing director of Whitcoulls, will be the chief executive officer of the new Whitcoulls-owned company.

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