Reading for pleasure Reading is the cornerstone of health and happiness. The publishing industry has a clear incentive to promote literacy and reading for pleasure. However, beyond ensuring a pipeline of future readers, literacy levels can have a huge impact on people’s life chances. According to research conducted by Save the Children, if every child…
International trade The UK publishing industry is an export powerhouse, with almost 60% of revenues derived from overseas, and market access is key to this success. We also export more books than any other country in the world. As the UK seeks to sign free trade agreements with Europe and the rest of the world,…
Fair online markets UK publishers are competing successfully in a tough landscape, with truly global distributors. Readers benefit from having access to a wide range of works published and distributed by multiple publishers and retailers. This ensures that the breadth of written works is maintained and that people continue to have access to a broad range of ideas. …
Freedom to publish The strength of the UK’s publishing industry – historically and today – is built on our country’s commitment to free and open expression of thoughts and ideas. We welcome government commitments to preserving free speech. In future trade agreements and international instruments, we urge the UK to champion its commitment to free…
Educational resources The educational resources produced by publishers play a vital role in improving student attainment whilst reducing teacher workloads. Publishers play an essential role in creating and distributing high quality resources to schools and have significant expertise and experience developing these materials. They want all students to learn from high-quality resources. A huge array of…
Digital VAT Ever since the UK’s VAT regime was established in the 1970s, printed books, magazines and newspapers have been VAT exempt. It was recognised that books and knowledge are essential to people’s lives and therefore applying a tax on reading would be unfair and inappropriate. This long-standing belief has helped ensure that reading and…