Following consultation, there has been a second wave of redundancies at Quercus, resulting in a staff of "around 40," all of them still in Quercus' Baker Street offices, though the company is now fully integrated into Hodder.
An Hachette spokesperson said that there were "considerably less than 20 [job losses] to date". A few more staff are likely to go between now and next spring, when the Hachette UK Group will move under one roof at office at Carmelite House on Victoria Embankment.
At the time of the acquisition, Hachette UK CEO Tim Hely Hutchinson said the plan was for Quercus to become a distinct division within the company, benefiting from Hachette's funding and sales reach, and it would appear that the plan is being followed. Christopher MacLehose, Jo Fletcher, Susan Watt, Jon Riley and the rest of the editorial team "are acquiring, and strengthening the Quercus lists. Where departments have been reduced--for instance finance, production and the digital team--it was because the equivalent departments within Hachette, more specifically Hodder, can cover the work."
Jamie Hodder-Williams, MD of Hodder Headline, said: "I am even more excited by the potential for Quercus than I was when they first joined Hodder. They have already had two of the biggest hardback debuts this year - in Harry Quebert and Look Who's Back - and Peter May's superb Entry Island is high on the paperback list. The range and depth of the lists is impressive and our ambitions for the spring and beyond are thoroughly justified. I am very much enjoying working with the Quercus team, and my Hodder colleagues and I are looking forward to a great future together."
It is estimated that, at the time of the sale earlier this year, the Quercus head count, following a considerable period of expansion, was about 60 to 70 people.
A version of this article originally appeared in PW's partner publication, BookBrunch.
