PETERS NEWS

Farewell from Carl

Thursday 23rd December will be my last day in the office before breaking up for the Christmas holidays and sadly my last day with Peters. As every X Factor contestant would say, "It's been an incredible journey!"

In two years I have met so many wonderful people; everyone at Peters, our customers, publishers, authors, illustrators and other book industry professionals. Some I hope to have the pleasure of keeping in touch with but I will remember you all.

We've faced some testing times together at Peters and I'm really proud of the changes that we have made and the fact that we have approached them as a team, with maturity and respect. The library book supply market continues to be challenging and Peters have embarked on a change programme to position the company for the changing trading conditions faced with the public sector. A solid financial base has been built in previous years and with the addition of recent business improvements the company's financial position continues to be robust. The company wishes to invest in its people (our greatest asset), lead new business development and continue to grow its well deserved reputation amongst customers.

I'm delighted to be handing over the MD role to Ray, who I know that, together with the Peters family, Jeanette, the management team and everyone at Peters, will continue to serve its valued customers well in to the future.

May I take this opportunity to thank all of our customers for your support during my time at Peters and wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy 2011. I would also leave you with a thought from an old Chinese proverb, "Action does not always bring happiness but there is no happiness without action".

Warm regards, Carl