Annual Report for the Year Ended 30 April 2018
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Annual Report for the year ended 30 April 2018 Annual Report 2018 1 Our core purpose is to advance learning, knowledge and research worldwide. How we fulfil this is evolving as we engage with researchers, students and teachers digitally to help solve their problems. Increasingly we fulfil our purpose by helping unlock their potential with the best learning and research solutions. Click the icon to jump to the contents page Contents About us 2 Vice-Chancellor’s introduction 4 Chief Executive’s overview 5 Academic publishing 8 Cambridge English Language Teaching 12 Educational publishing 16 People and values 20 Awards and prizes 22 Abstract of the Financial Statements 26 Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement 30 Statute J of the University of Cambridge: the University Press 31 Click the contents to jump to the page Annual Report 2018 1 About us The Cambridge advantage About us We are part of the University of Cambridge We work closely with other University departments, such as the research and teaching departments and Cambridge Assessment, to advance knowledge, learning and research. 1534 Cambridge University Press is the oldest media business in the world and the oldest university press. We were founded through ‘Letters Patent’, similar to a Royal Charter, granted to the University by Henry VIII in 1534. Global presence 50 offices around the world 10 hubs globally, with 90% of sales outside the UK Our people 2,710 colleagues worldwide 60% 56% outside the UK 2 Annual Report 2018 About us Academic platforms ELT platforms Education platforms 37,000,000 2,300,000 8,000,000 Downloads in 2018 User sessions per month Learning sessions in 2018 Cambridge Dictionary Online 52,000,000 Sessions per month 63 Nobel Prize winners have been published by Cambridge including Kip S Thorne, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2017, and Joachim Frank, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017. We consist of three publishing groups Academic Publishing English Language Teaching Education Academic, which publishes Cambridge English Language Education, which provides research books, advanced learning Teaching, which publishes teaching materials for materials and reference content materials for both students and schools around the world as well as nearly 400 journals. adult learners. and advises governments on educational reform. Annual Report 2018 3 Vice-Chancellor’s introduction I’ve been aware of the strength of Cambridge University Press’s reputation as a publisher of research material from my earliest experiences as a PhD student here. Subsequently it was my privilege to publish a book of my own with the Press. Since becoming Vice-Chancellor in October 2017 one of my pleasures has been to find out a good deal more about the Press’s ELT and Education groups too – themselves formidable businesses in their own right. The University’s mission – ‘to contribute to society through the many collaborative projects already underway between the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest the people of the two organisations. international levels of excellence’ – includes a commitment to It remains for me to thank my immediate predecessors as disseminate the best learning and research beyond its own Chairs of the Press Syndicate, Sir David Bell – whom we are immediate orbit. The Press is one of the foremost enablers fortunate to retain as Senior Independent Director on the of this. Press & Assessment Board – and the former Vice-Chancellor At the heart of the University’s coat of arms is a book, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz. I also wish to welcome Professor reflecting that part of its mission. But publishing in the twenty- Rose Luckin, Professor Barbara Sahakian and Ms Jessica Rusu first century has come to be about much more than books. who joined the Syndicate’s ELT & Education and Academic The development of robust digital platforms to provide books, Publishing Committees and Audit Committee respectively in journals and interactive learning services in various electronic the course of the year, as well as Mr Richard Partington and forms has become a core part of the Press’s operations, Professor Richard Prager, Syndics of Cambridge Assessment requiring new kinds of skills and business models, as well as who have ‘crossed the road’ to become Syndics of the Press considerable investment. The past year has seen impressive as well. progress on that front. I look forward to another year of impressive growth and Another theme has been the further strengthening of ties high-quality publications. between the Press and the University’s examinations business, Cambridge Assessment, whose new building was completed in the course of the year, making it the Press’s immediate neighbour on Shaftesbury Road. As Chair of both Syndicates, one of my priorities will be to ensure we make the most of the opportunities to drive educational impact and value to schools by closer strategic alignment. The work of the new Press & Professor Stephen Toope Assessment Board under the direction of the University’s Chief Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Chair of Financial Officer, Anthony Odgers, will be crucial here, as will the Press Syndicate 4 Annual Report 2018 Chief Executive’s overview The Press enjoyed a strong financial performance in 2017–18, giving us greater resources and flexibility to invest in the people and technologies that are positioning us to prosper in a fast-evolving digital world. A solid financial base underpins our ability to fulfil our means to sharing evidence and insights, as well as new means central purpose – to advance learning, knowledge and to assess value and impact for all our customers. However, research worldwide – and to meet the changing needs of our physical sales remain robust and our fastest growth remains in customers in academia and education with products that meet products that blend digital and print. The digital and physical the highest standards of excellence. worlds are closely linked and our aim is to provide whatever Our growth in sales and profits came despite the combination best meets the needs of our customers – be they strengthening of sterling against a number of currencies researchers, librarians, teachers or students. during the year. It was helped by strong control of costs – a As ever, the most important single ingredient of our success tribute to the restructuring work undertaken by the Press over has been our unrelenting focus on excellence, measured in the past few years, which has left us nimbler in responding to academic, pedagogical and publishing terms. The high quality changing markets. of our academic output was underscored by our winning six Our Academic group had a particularly good year in the categories in the Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) North American market, and a very positive year for book sales Awards, the most prestigious for our industry, which are worldwide. The Cambridge English Language Teaching group presented by the Association of American Publishers. recorded strong results in Italy, Turkey, India and Mexico, while Our focus on excellence was complemented during the Education saw notably fast growth in India and Pakistan. year by a marked strengthening of our collaboration with Our sales of purely digital products, along with those other Cambridge departments. The sharing of knowledge blended with more traditional textbooks, continued to grow and capabilities across the University creates products that very rapidly and by the end of the financial year accounted help customers perform to their maximum potential, in turn for close to 40 per cent of sales, up from 15 per cent five reinforcing Cambridge’s worldwide reputation for the highest years ago. academic and educational standards. Digital solutions are now a normal part of all we do, We have long had especially close links with Cambridge offering students and teachers all the advantages of Assessment, the exams business of the University, and those interactivity and instant feedback, and researchers and ties grew even closer in 2017–18. This was the first full year librarians many benefits from instant discovery, effective of new governance arrangements under which the Vice- Annual Report 2018 5 AUDIO CD SET Chief Executive’s overview Chancellor took over as Chair of both Syndicates and a single Press, Assessment and Cambridge’s Faculties of Mathematics new Press & Assessment Board was put in place to oversee the and Education, dedicated to providing an internationally two organisations on behalf of the Syndicates. recognised, quality educational framework for mathematics. We were also delighted to see Cambridge Assessment At a symposium in March its most recent thinking was given move into its newly constructed headquarters on Shaftesbury strong support by members of the international maths Road, across the road from our head office – a further education community. demonstration of our partnership. As we look to the future, the Press depends I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Simon overwhelmingly on one thing – our people. To thrive in the Lebus, who retired in April after 15 years as Chief Executive of digital age, with its constant change, we need to continue Cambridge Assessment. During Simon’s tenure, Cambridge to attract and retain colleagues of the highest quality, Assessment’s sales trebled, its international impact hugely complementing existing skills with new ones and ensuring strengthened and we laid the foundations of the burgeoning we are agile and flexible enough to adapt to a very different partnership between the Press and Assessment to serve world. Competition for such people is particularly high in Cambridge’s school customers better than ever before. the fast-growing and technologically orientated economy I also want to extend my warm thanks to Michael Peluse, around Cambridge. who is leaving us after seven years leading Cambridge With this in mind, we have been investing heavily in the English Language Teaching.