Ian Allan

Source: Exec Digital UK

Date :31/05/2007 17:53:09

A PUBLISHING HOUSE WITH A DIFFERENCE

It all began in 1942 when Ian Allan, the founding father of train spotting, published his first book – abc of Southern Locomotives (price 1 shilling) – and on the strength of the book’s success a publishing company was formed. 65 years later Ian Allan Publishing is still a family-owned business and has become the leading independent publisher of titles on all things transport, covering everything from high quality illustrated titles for train enthusiasts and spotters to military and civil aviation, naval and maritime, buses, trams and trolley buses, to leisure titles covering football and Aero films

Managing Director Tristan Hilderley, 37, went on a post education gap year, during which he met his British born wife and settled into a career in the UK in publishing. He has been the company’s managing director since 2005 and was brought in to modernise the company for the 21st Century.

From small beginnings to a world leader in transport publications

Ian Allan Publishing’s head office is in Hersham, Surrey, and the operation includes a publishing house for books and enthusiast magazines, a mail order distribution depot in the Midlands, and currently four retail bookstores. Over the last decade it has acquired two new specialist publishers and it covers everything from steam trains to aviation and space travel, naval and military transport to industrial archaeology and collecting. The company’s own imprints and its growing list of associated publishers are represented by Amalgamated Book Services. It is a private limited company with members of Mr Allan’s family still very much involved. Mr Allan senior has largely taken a back seat in recent years to concentrate on his charitable work and his eldest son is now the company’s chairman. The five-person board has two family members, a finance director and two other non-family directors.

As well as publishing a range of specialist transport books, it has 11 magazine titles, including a new title added in March 2007 in collaboration with the model manufacturer, Hornby. This new title uses computer technology to appeal to today’s generation of young people while simultaneously catering to those in their 40s and 50s, who are returning to the world of model railways of their youth after the interruptions that life and supporting families has brought them.

The company’s specialist bookstores provide a one-stop shop for transport enthusiasts whether their interests are modern or historic and a key to the company’s retail success is the combination of knowledgeable staff with a comprehensive stock and specialist order service. It also has a very effective mail order distribution centre in the Midlands. The internet is a key arm of the sales process and the Ian Allan Publishing website includes an easy-ordering and secure online “superstore”.

Mr Hilderley says: “I think we have been successful because we have employed people largely who have enthusiasm for or have used what we publish. They’re dedicated and have a mixture of general publishing skills and real enthusiasts and by and large the people who work for us have been with us for some time.” These include a publisher who has been with the company for 20 years and a production manager who has been with them for 22 years.

The future’s definitely digital

Following the introduction of the Hornby Magazine, Mr Hilderley said the company was now seeking to modernise in all areas.

Foremost at the moment is training all the staff in using a new computerised and specially-designed stock management system, which will handle everything from ordering to data entry and stock control and is linked into the company’s retail outlets. Target for going live is April 16 and next on the agenda is opening a fifth retail outlet.

But, says Mr Hilderley: “We’ve been looking at all sorts of processes.” The result is that the company is to offer a “print on demand” service. He says: “The most valuable asset we have is our back list. It’s a problem but it’s also an opportunity. Now a customer can order an item at the normal price and we’ll be able to print as needed. The financial model works with the printer and we’ll make this service available through the web site.”

Sourcing writers is no problem and the company rarely has to use agents. He says: “Because we are such a name within the genre people come to us.” However, modernisation of all the titles is also in progress, with a lot of the books undergoing a re-design to appeal to more customers. They also plan to commission more books with a wider appeal to maximise the growth of the business.

Electronic media play a part too, with 36 CD ROMs/DVDs focusing on trains due out in July this year. Each will be a historical journey through a particular area of the country via a steam railway and there are plenty of local historical archives around the country to provide source material, he says, so many more are planned. Mr Hilderley believes these will have a nostalgia element, appealing to people who would like to relive a particular journey in their youth.

Another potential major growth area is the company’s huge image bank of street scenes, particular vehicles and the like, for which it can sell the digital rights. Engineers’ manuals for specific vehicles also have the potential for growth sales to people restoring particular rail lines or locomotives, and that could potentially lead to selling to preservation societies and people seeking to restore trains in other countries – like India and Africa. The company also founded and sponsors the National Rail Heritage Awards.

For the younger generation, he believes, the key will be in using the moving image, online delivery and developing chat rooms on the website for enthusiasts in any number of specific areas. At the moment about 33 percent of the company’s archive material has been put into digital form, but the plan is eventually to expand to cover all the company’s assets.