Press Release
Hachette UK announces the appointment of Dominic Mahony as Group HR Director06/07/2009
Hachette UK announces the appointment of Dominic Mahony as Group HR Director, to replace Susan Taylor who leaves Hachette UK and retires from her career in Human Resources in October.
Hachette UK is pleased to announce that, following the planned departure of current Group HR Director Susan Taylor, Dominic Mahony has been appointed to the role and will join HUK on 1st October.
Dominic Mahony
Dominic was most recently HR Director for O2 UK. Prior to that, he spent five years as HR Director for TUI (formerly the Thomson Travel Group) and eleven years working for Tesco in a number of different HR roles in the UK, in France where he was HR Director for Tesco’s French subsidiary Catteau, and as part of the start-up team of Tesco in Asia.
Dominic, a fluent French speaker, enjoys reading and music, cycling and good food and wine. He is married with two teenage children and lives in a village outside Cambridge.
Dominic will become a member of the Hachette UK board. He will be based in the group’s offices in Euston Road and will report to Hachette UK’s Chief Operating Officer, Chris Emerson.
Chris Emerson said: “Dominic is an outstanding HR professional with a wealth of experience working in large organisations. I am absolutely delighted that he will be joining us and I look forward very much to introducing him to everyone at Hachette UK.”
Dominic Mahony said: “I have enjoyed the opportunity of working in different sectors during my career and am looking forward very much to learning about the world of publishing and contributing to Hachette UK’s ongoing success.”
Susan Taylor
Susan Taylor’s career in Human Resources spans more than 30 years and includes sausages, chemicals, soap powder, whisky, healthcare and publishing. She joined Unilever in 1978 as a Graduate Trainee and her first management role was as Deputy Personnel Manager Walls Meat Company Southall. After fourteen years with Unilever, Susan joined United Distillers as European Region Human Resources Manager and then, in 1995, she moved to become Director of Human Resources at the General Healthcare Group and was part of a successful management buyout. Susan joined Penguin in 1999 as their Human Resources Director. During her time there, Penguin won awards as Media Employer and NSPCC Family-Friendly Employer and moved to new offices at 80 The Strand.
In 2006 Tim Hely Hutchinson invited Susan to join what was then the newly formed Hachette Livre UK group as Group HR Director. Her first task was to help welcome the staff of Little, Brown Book Group into Hachette UK and this acquisition was followed by Philip Allan and Piatkus. Hachette UK now employs 1700 people in a number of locations across the UK.
Susan has carried out her role on a four day a week basis. Every Friday she works at the Princess Alice Hospice, where she is a volunteer. She has decided to retire from Human Resources in order to devote more time to charity work. Susan explained:
“Publishing is the best of industries, because of the marvellous people working in the business and Hachette UK is a fantastic company to be with. Everyone is enthusiastic about their work and supportive of one another. It has been an honour to work with Tim and the other members of the Hachette UK Board as well as the HR team. I am in the fortunate position of being able to ‘put something back’ at this stage of my life and intend to spend more time on charity and community work. Dominic Mahony is a very experienced Human Resources Director and I am delighted that he has decided to join the business.”
Tim Hely Hutchinson, CEO of Hachette UK paid tribute to Susan’s outstanding contribution to the HUK group, saying:
“Susan proved a godsend when she came to help us after the Time Warner Book Group (now Little, Brown Book Group) acquisition, and she has subsequently taken us a long way forward both technically and in starting to satisfy our aim to make Hachette UK a uniquely happy and motivating publishing group to work for. Susan will be with us for a good while longer but I take this opportunity to thank her most warmly and to wish her very well for her future. Whatever she does will be brilliant.”
Ends
For further information contact Clare Harington, Group Communications Director, on 020 7873 6108.
Notes to Editors
Hachette UK, the largest and one of the most diversified book publishers in the UK. The UK group is made up of several publishing companies and imprints including Hachette Children’s Books, Headline Publishing Group, Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder Education, John Murray, Little, Brown Publishing Group, Octopus Publishing Group and Orion Publishing Group with international companies Hachette Book Group Australia, Hachette New Zealand, Hachette India, Hachette Ireland and Hachette Scotland.
Hachette UK is owned by Hachette Livre, the second largest publisher in the world, based in France, and led by Président Directeur Général Arnaud Nourry. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère, a leading company on the Paris stock exchange.