Wednesday, December 10, 2014

NEWS FROM NEW HOLLAND

  
New Holland has announced that sadly, after what she says have been ‘16 exhilarating years’ at the helm of the New Zealand company, managing director Belinda Cooke has made the difficult decision to resign from her role, and is planning a long summer sabbatical before she takes her career in a fresh direction in 2015.

Under Belinda’s leadership, the New Zealand business has grown from a small import-only operation when it opened in early 1998, to the dynamic company it is today, with a very solid local publishing list of some 200 titles and several significant international agencies.

“Belinda has been part of the international New Holland family for close to 20 years counting her time in South Africa, and she’s been a tireless ambassador for our business in New Zealand, and for New Zealand in her travels overseas, so it is hard to imagine the company without her, but we respect and support her decision, and wish her all the very best for the future,” said New Holland’s group managing director Fiona Schultz.

New Holland’s sales administration manager Toni Hayman has also decided to leave the company to take on new challenges, and both she and Belinda finish up on 11 December.

“Toni has also been with New Holland for over 15 years and has enthusiastically engaged with every area of the business as it has developed. Her enormous efficiency and quiet professionalism will be greatly missed by her colleagues and her customers,” said Fiona.

However, in sharing this unfortunate news, New Holland was very pleased to be able to offer some excellent news to counter it, and that is that following the closure of the Random House Poland Road warehouse at the end of March 2015, New Holland’s stock and that of its agencies will remain in New Zealand. A distribution agreement has been signed with PDL and all orders will be processed by that company from 1 April 2015.

“We’re really happy to be able make an ongoing commitment to the local industry by keeping our stock and distribution in New Zealand,” said Fiona, “and PDL seems the perfect new home for us, with their strong emphasis on customer service and their excellent reputation in the market place.” 

Bookstore trade sales will still be handled by the very experienced team from Books r Us: Gary Shannon, Dennis Morgan and Jeremy Bliss. PDL’s part owner, Susan Holmes of Bookreps, will begin to assist from January with gift, specialist and head office sales.


An announcement regarding replacement roles at New Holland will be made in the New Year

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