Bloomsbury Publishing Plc announces that after seven years Sir Richard Lambert has given notice of his intention to retire as Chairman and step down as Director of the company with effect from the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting on 16 July 2024. John Bason, current Independent Non-Executive Director, will succeed Richard as Chairman, subject to re-election as a director. John Bason joined the Bloomsbury Board on 1 April 2022 and became Chair of the Remuneration Committee on 20 July 2022.

He is a Chartered Accountant and brings a wealth of experience from his 40-year career in finance and international business. He was Finance Director at Associated British Foods plc from May 1999 until 28 April 2023. He was also formerly Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director at Compass Group PLC and a Trustee of Voluntary Service Overseas.

He is an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at SSE plc, Chairman of the Primark Strategic Advisory Board and Chairman of the UK's leading food redistribution charity FareShare.