John Blake
Publisher
John has a successful publishing career in books spanning 30 years, running his own eponymous publishing company John Blake Publishing Ltd until he sold it to Bonnier in 2016. Prior to that John was a successful newspaper rock journalist and editor where he wrote daily columns for the London Evening Standard, The Sun and The Mirror before being promoted to edit the Sunday People. John Blake Publishing produced more than 100 Sunday Times top ten best-selling non-fiction books, including five in 2017 and two in 2018.
Duncan Proudfoot
Commissioning & Editorial
Duncan has over 20 years publishing experience. He was previously publishing director of Robinson, an imprint of the Little, Brown Book Group (previously part of Constable & Robinson) where over a 17-year period he successfully established and grew this multi-million pound non-fiction imprint.
Jon Rippon
Managing Director
Jon has worked in the publishing industry for over 20 years. He started out in 1998 at the Collins & Brown group before moving to Frances Lincoln in 2001 as Finance Director, where he stayed for eleven years before selling to Quarto in 2011. In 2012 he joined the board of Constable & Robinson as its CFO, until the successful sale of the company to Hachette UK in 2014. Jon currently runs his own financial consultancy Rippon Publishing Management Limited, and is also part-owner and managing director of illustrated publisher Palazzo Editions
Martin Palmer
Sales & Marketing
Martin Palmer began his career in sales at Harper Collins where he spent 18 years, managing the UK field sales teams. In 2005 he was appointed Sales and Marketing Director at Tempus Publishing. In 2008 he became Sales, Marketing and Publicity Director at Constable & Robinson. In 2014 Martin set up his own publishing sales agency, Martin Palmer Publishing Services Ltd, representing a number of leading independent and corporate publishers.