The end of an era

For those of you who don’t already know, long-standing ALPSP member and industry legend, John Cox retires at the end of October after 42 years in the business.

John, who originally trained as a barrister, maintains he was ‘side-tracked’ into publishing! He spent ten years with the Open University before running the UK arm of Scholastic during the 1980s. He then joined BH Blackwell with whom he stayed until 1994 when he joined Carfax - later purchased by Routledge - as MD. When Routledge was sold to Taylor & Francis, John started his consultancy, John Cox Associates.

One of his earliest pieces of consultancy work was developing a set of model journal licences which have proved invaluable for over a decade to publishers and libraries alike, and which will continue to be available through Ringgold. ALPSP members will also be familiar with the ALPSP Scholarly Publishing Practice Surveys which John undertook with his daughter, Laura.

John will remain connected to the industry through his Non-executive Directorships and occasional consultancy projects. He will also continue his life-long work with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. In one guise or another, John was a member of ALPSP for over 20 years and on behalf of ALPSP Council, members and staff, I would like to wish him enjoyment and fulfilment as he begins this next exciting chapter.

Sarah Durrant
Chief Executive