Spring Conference Blog: Perminder Mann – Closing Keynote

Posted on April 5, 2019 in Scotland

Perminder Mann, CEO, Bonnier Books UK

After a day spent giving a platform to industry pioneers and inspiring BAME advocates, SYP Scotland was delighted to welcome CEO of Bonnier Books UK, Perminder Mann, as the closing keynote speaker. In a deeply refreshing take, her address to an audience of aspiring publishers peeled back the years and revealed what has laid the foundation for her success. Mann’s story is a reminder that regardless of our own backgrounds, we must make space in the industry for those who have infinite potential, but are rarely given the opportunity to show it.

A graduate from Kingston university, Mann cut her teeth at Macmillan and Transworld publishers in their sale departments. It was here that she learnt to carve her place in the publishing world and grow a network that would support her future in the years to come. Not one to be afraid of risks, Mann then dived into the world of independent publishing, working at Hinkler and then Phidal Publishing as their UK Sales Manager, respectively. Her willingness to expand her own knowledge of the industry through new environments is particularly inspiring, and is a good reminder of how the book trade needs to be responsive to ever-evolving digital and environmental changes. After working in the toy industry, Mann has returned to her roots of a larger publishing company and will celebrate her 10^th year at Bonnier Books UK this December.

In that time, Mann has continued to look ahead to publishing’s future, co-founding Blink Publishing, the first to pick up on the rising interest in YouTube and collaborate with Alfie Deyes to produce a 2014 bestseller. Most tellingly, in a 2017 list conducted by the Guardian and Operation Black Vote, to assess the 1,000 most powerful people in the UK, there were only seven BAME women- and of them, Mann was the only woman working in the book publishing industry. This statistic shames our industry; but it also highlights Perminder Mann’s immense achievements and recognises her as the trailblazer that she is.

Blog by Mary Clayton, SYP Scotland Conference Committee