The board

John Bason joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 1 April 2022 and became Chair of the Remuneration Committee on 20 July 2022. He became Chairman of the Board on 16 July 2024, at the conclusion of the 2024 Annual General Meeting, whereupon he became Chair of the Nomination Committee and stood down as Chair of the Remuneration Committee, but remained a member.

John is a Chartered Accountant with a wealth of experience from a 40-year career in international business. He was Finance Director of Associated British Foods plc from May 1999 until April 2023. He was formerly a Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director at Compass Group plc, Chair of the UK’s leading food redistribution charity, FareShare and Honorary Treasurer of Voluntary Service Overseas.

He is an Independent Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at SSE plc and Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board of Primark. 

Nigel Newton is the founder of Bloomsbury Publishing. He was born and raised in San Francisco. He read English at Selwyn College, Cambridge and after working at Macmillan Publishers, he joined Sidgwick & Jackson. He left Sidgwick in 1986 to start Bloomsbury Publishing with three other publishers. Bloomsbury floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994 and has grown organically and through acquisitions. Nigel was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to the publishing industry. As the then President of the Publishers Association in April 2022, a one-year post, he took on the role of Past President of the Publishers Association in April 2023, which term ended in May 2024. In March 2025 he was appointed as a Trustee for the Victoria and Albert Museum. He serves as President of Book Aid International and as a Member of the Advisory Committee of Cambridge University Library. In 2020, he was awarded the LBF Lifetime Achievement Award 2020 and became an Honorary Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He has previously served as a member of the Booker Prize Advisory Committee, Chairman of the Charleston Trust, Chair of World Book Day, Board member of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, member of the Publishers Association Council, Trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Chairman of the British Library Trust.

Penny Scott-Bayfield was appointed to the Bloomsbury Board in July 2018, when she joined Bloomsbury as Group Finance Director. Prior to this, she was Finance Director of Condé Nast Britain, and held senior finance roles at Sky Plc and lastminute.com Plc. She is also the Chair of the charity Ocean Youth Trust South. Penny started her career and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (FCA) with Deloitte. She has a first-class degree in Maths from University College, Durham, and was a judge on the Women of the Future programme 2011-2022.

Leslie-Ann Reed joined the Bloomsbury Board in July 2019. She is a Chartered Accountant with a wealth of Non-Executive and Audit Committee Chair experience. Leslie-Ann is an Independent Non-Executive Director at Learning Technologies Group plc, Centaur Media plc and also at Frontier Developments plc where she serves as the Senior Independent Non- Executive Director. She also serves as the Chair of the Audit Committee for these companies. Leslie-Ann was formerly a Non- Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of the London- listed publisher Quarto Group Inc. and Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board and Chair of the Audit Committee of the German-listed company ZEAL Networks SE. She was Chief Financial Officer of the B2B media group Metal Bulletin plc and the online auctioneer Go Industry plc. She has also held senior finance roles in various media and professional services companies, namely Universal Pictures, Polygram Music, EMI Music and Warner Communications Inc.

Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey of Hornsey is a former actor, professor of Cultural Studies, and Head of Culture at the Greater London Authority. She has written and broadcast extensively on a wide range of cultural issues, mainly on the subject of diversity and culture in the arts and creative industries sector. She has served on the Boards of several national cultural organisations, including the National Theatre and the Southbank Centre, as well as serving as a Commissioner for Historic England. Baroness Young has chaired the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Orange Prize for Women’s Fiction, the Ondaatje Prize for writing and the Man Booker Prize. Recognised for her work on equality and diversity in the heritage sector with the award of an OBE in 2001, Baroness Young was appointed an independent Crossbench member of the House of Lords in 2004. She is widely known for her contribution to creating legislation to eliminate modern slavery, founding the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion, and Sport, Modern Slavery and Human Rights. An elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society for Literature, Baroness Young is Co-Chair of the Foundation for Future London, Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, a Non-Executive Director for Futerra Limited and a Trustee of The Conduit Foundation.

Dame Heather Rabbatts’ career spans law, government, sport, and media. She began her career as a lawyer, then became a government advisor and the youngest CEO of a local authority. She subsequently moved into media with executive roles at Channel 4, and then independent film and TV production.

Heather is the Senior Independent Director at both Associated British Foods plc and M&C Saatchi Group plc, chairs Soho Theatre and the talent management and TV/Film production company, 42 M&P Ltd, and is an independent film producer. Previous roles include being an Independent Non-executive Director at Kier Group plc, founding the company The Women’s Sports Group to promote, enhance and empower women’s sports and co-founding Times Up UK to promote safe working environments across Film, TV and Theatre. Among many other roles, she has been on the boards of Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, the Royal Opera House, the BBC, the executive Chairman of Millwall Football Club and was the first woman and person of colour on the Board of the FA in 150 years.

Maya Abu-Deeb is a qualified solicitor and joined Bloomsbury in 2008 as General Counsel. Maya is responsible for all legal advice to the Company, and manages the legal and contracts teams at Bloomsbury. She is also Company Secretary and Group Data Protection Officer, assuming these roles in 2019. Prior to joining Bloomsbury, Maya was in private practice for ten years, specialising in commercial, media and intellectual property law, and advising in respect of both contentious and non- contentious matters.

Maya read Oriental Studies at St John's College, Oxford, before completing the Common Professional Exam and Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in London.