Revision guides and supplementary texts are big business and the market leader for the last few years, with sales of about £4.5m, has been the Co-Ordination Publishing Group, better known as CGP.

With 90% of the top 20 titles you might imagine CGP were doing well but the year ended August 2006 saw profits plummet by almost 90% (to £142k from £1.2m)! The cause of this decline has been blamed on several factors including staffing changes, alterations to the UK curriculum and a lack of focus caused by expansion of CGP’s US operations. While all of these undoubtedly contributed, what seems to have been downplayed is the resurgence of Letts and Leckie & Leckie under new owners Huveaux (who also own the Lonsdale brand).

Huveaux are known to be tough competitors who are prepared to invest and innovate – for example, creating a promotional link between Letts and TutorVista. Jonathan van Kampler has built up a strong team, particularly with the appointment of Andy Ware to lead their Education division. Ware is a well-known educational publisher who has previously worked at the BBC, Pearson and McGraw Hill. Ware’s team have managed to increase sales by almost 23% in the first half of 2007, a significant achievement by any standards.

It looks as if CGP has turned the corner and now we want to see what their ongoing strategy will be. Independence and a base in rural Cumbria may be wonderful, but at some point the owners will want to cash in, and every private equity firm we have spoken to in the last two years has been interested in having a tilt at CGP.

www.cgpbooks.co.uk
www.huveauxplc.com