Castlefield Stock Story - Bloomsbury Publishing

People like books; we like the look and feel of them and they do, indeed, furnish a room. For a product that has been around for well over a thousand years, books have proved remarkably resilient in a world where so much traditional media has been replaced by a combination of new technologies and changing consumer behaviour.

In this latest featured stock story Castlefield Investment Analyst David Gorman introduces Bloomsbury Publishing - held in our Thoughtful UK Smaller Companies Fund. 

The printed word goes from strength to strength and it was actually a beneficiary of both the pandemic (people stuck indoors read more books) and the rise of social media such as TikTok (#BookTok), Instagram and Reddit, in which content creators discuss their favourite books.[1]

Britain is the world’s largest exporter of books and our publishing industry directly employs 30,000 people and supports more than 84,000 jobs in printing, design, distribution, bookselling and related fields.

The British publishing industry is extremely successful; according to the Publishers’ Association, it has an annual turnover of £7.2 billion, with export income accounting for almost 63% of sales. Britain is the world’s largest exporter of books and our publishing industry directly employs 30,000 people and supports more than 84,000 jobs[2] in printing, design, distribution, bookselling and related fields.

Bloomsbury Publishing is an independent publishing house and is a relatively recent addition to our TM Castlefield Thoughtful UK Smaller Companies Fund. Founded in 1986 by Nigel Newton, who is still the CEO, Bloomsbury spans academic, professional and consumer publishing. The company is best known for its portfolio of literary and educational titles, including globally recognised works such as the Harry Potter series, which have made a big contribution to its long-term success. The publisher operates internationally, with offices across the UK, US, Asia and Australia, enabling it to reach a global readership. Bloomsbury authors have won Nobel, Booker and Pulitzer Prizes[3] and Bloomsbury was voted Publisher of the Year at the 2025 British Book Awards.[4]

The company is structured into two main divisions: Consumer, which includes fiction and non-fiction titles for the general reader and Non-Consumer, which concentrates on academic and professional publishing available through Bloomsbury Digital Resources. This latter division offers access to specialist digital content on a subscription basis, which generates high-margin, recurring revenues. The shift by academia towards digital learning and research continues to support Bloomsbury’s growth in this area.

Bloomsbury has grown by acquisition over the last twenty years and many of these acquired assets now form part of the company’s digital resources. Famous imprints such as Methuen and Arden contribute to Bloomsbury Drama Online while Art Films, bought in 2021, adds content to the Bloomsbury Video Library.

Bloomsbury Publishing has built several competitive advantages, including its strong intellectual property portfolio, long-term publishing rights and a growing digital platform.

The 2024 £65m purchase of the academic publishing business of Rowman & Littlefield has been successful so far and is the company’s largest deal to date and represents a step up in the pace of investment into Academic publishing. Last year, Bloomsbury opened a new office in Singapore, to better address the higher education market in Asia.

Last December, the company announced a strategic collaboration with Google Cloud[5] to use artificial intelligence to increase the discovery and sales of books, as well as enhancing reader engagement with written content to improve learning outcomes. It is early days with this deal, but it looks promising.

The publisher’s ability to find and nurture successful authors is central to its success and one such star is the American Sarah J. Maas, an author of fantasy books. She has sold over 75 million books worldwide[6] and her fans eagerly await the next two instalments in the “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series of novels, due out in October this year and January next year respectively. This news was well received by investors and the share price, in the doldrums for nine months, enjoyed a welcome boost.[7]

Bloomsbury Publishing has built several competitive advantages, including its strong intellectual property portfolio, long-term publishing rights and a growing digital platform. Nigel Newton talks about a Flywheel Effect in the business, whereby investment in high quality content drives strong customer demand, generating cash to fund further investment, acquisitions and cash returns to investors.