68 artistMay 2020 http://www.painters-online.co.ukSearch Press
As our PaintersOnline bookshop partner, we are delighted to mark Search Press’s
half-centenary. Martin de la Bedoyere, managing director of this award-winning
publishing house, talks about his company’s 50 years of success
Search Press was founded by
my mother, Lotti de la Bedoyere, in
1970, in an attic room in Kensington,
London. My brother and I were
settled in school and my mother
found herself wondering what she
could do to occupy herself. She had
an interest in craft, a love of nature,
and had helped my father publish a
monthly religious newsletter (he was
editor of the Catholic Herald at the
time.) So, with a vague knowledge of
publishing, a dogged determination to
succeed, and little or no capital, she
founded Search Press, and embarked
upon her publishing journey. Her fi rst
publications were a small series of
staple-bound, 32-page booklets in the
Leisure Craft series, co-editions with
the German publisher Herder. The
inaugural title was Basket Weaving,
closely followed by Batik and then
Pin & Thread*.
The road was by no means smooth
for Lotti in the male-dominated world
of publishing at that time, but she was
not one to be intimidated or deterred.
She continued to grow and expand
her publishing range and the business
through the decades. In 1997 when she
felt the time was right to take a step
back after 27 happy years at the helm,
she handed the reins over to me. But
she wasn’t quite ready to retire, so she
continued as the photographer for all
our books for some time after that.
At the time I had several years’
experience of academic publishing,
but I joined Search Press with virtually
no knowledge of craft publishing,
so it was a little daunting to begin
with. Here I am, however, 20 years
later with a £7 million award-winning
company, celebrating half a century so
I suppose I must be doing something
right! Actually, speaking of awards,
we were thrilled to win Best Craft
Book Publisher earlier this year for the
seventh consecutive time and the ninth
since the awards began in 2006. That
was very special, particularly in our
50th anniversary year.How large is the company today?
We have over 35 full-time staff
in Tunbridge Wells, working in
editorial, design, production, sales
and marketing, customer service,warehousing and accounts. We also
have offi ces in the USA and Australia.
Every aspect of the publishing process- from initial idea to dispatching
fi nished copies – takes place in-house
apart from the actual printing of our
books, and probably uniquely for
a book publishing company of our size,
we have our own on-site warehouse,
allowing us to service consumers,
booksellers and art and craft shops
around the world quickly and effectively.
The company started as a small
family business all those decades ago,
a culture that my mother very much
engendered and encouraged with dogs
in the offi ce, fun days out and great
parties. It’s important to me that we’ve
kept that ethos – we’ve had to change
and introduce some more rigid and
professional systems in order to remain
successful in this competitive market, but
we have retained all that is wholesome
and fun within a family business.
We still enjoy dogs in the offi ce, great
parties and quite a few staff who were
employed by my mother in the early
days are still with the company today.
Which books sell well today? Have
you seen changes in media and
subject popularity over the years?
Watercolour is still the best-selling
medium, with drawing and sketching
following closely behind. There is also
a defi nite trend towards artists wanting
to be more innovative and experimental,
exploring all kinds of mixed media.
With that in mind, we’ve launched
a brand-new series, The Innovative Lotti and Martin de la Bedoyere in 1997
The first Search Press Christmas party, 1973 (Lotti seated) Search Press’s 40th anniversary Meet the Artist day