WH Smith And Penguin Screw You Over

Posted on | June 11, 2009 | 12 Comments

Today The Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild (OWPG) issued a call to arms to it’s members and the rest of the world in response to a restrictive deal between WH Smith and the publisher Penguin.

Basically Penguin is giving WH Smith a big kick back in the form of a 72% discount to get exclusive access to all the WH Smith outlets at airports, motorway service stations and railway stations.

So WH Smith is basically pimping out it’s shelf space to the highest bidder. Does that really surprise us? Not really, we probably always suspected it was such. But as long as it was under the table and not shoved in our face we turned a blind eye. A bit like the MP’s and their expense claims.

But in this age of transparency this deal seems very anti competitive, freedom of choice, and seems to be denying us the chance to actually buy good guide books. I know they list in the press release (see below) the major guide book publishers, but lets not forget some of the smaller and in my opinion better quality publishers like Cicerone that are also being shut out by this “deal”.

I admit you and I may not be their target market for those outlets. Like myself before we set off to that foreign destination or UK destination, we already have our guide books, maps etc. But what about the average joe public, who is waiting for that flight, browses the shelves at Smiths, and decides that they will do a walk or two while they are on holiday? They are now limited to those titles from the Penguin stable. Some choice that is.

So with companies like WH Smith acting like our politicians I can’t help feeling just a little bit disappointed. Apparently there have already been calls for a consumer boycott of WH Smith and of Penguin Group imprints, which include Rough Guides, Sawday, DK, Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Michael Joseph, Viking, Ladybird, Puffin and Frederick Warne.

I’m not sure how effective that would be or if the public would get behind it. Do they care? I’d like to think that they do, and that they would back any call to arms against this sort of corrupt behaviour from big business. But this sort of action has to be a thing of last resort. We have how ever foolishly to believe that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will protect us and look after our best interests in a case like this, and bitch slap WH Smith and Penguin around the corporate playground.

But in the meantime while I wait for hell to freeze over and the OFT to grow a spine, I will take my business elsewhere and avoid WH Smith and the Penguin stable.

Here’s the full press release from the OWPG:

“The Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild (OWPG) has written to the Office of Fair Trading expressing concern over WH Smith Travel’s plan to make publisher Penguin the sole supplier of foreign travel guides in its airport, motorway and railway station outlets.

The deal would mean only Rough Guides, Dorling Kindersley and Sawday guides would be stocked at the 450 stores, while popular names such as Lonely Planet, AA, Berlitz, Thomas Cook, Bradt, Time Out and Michelin would disappear from the shelves.

According to industry magazine The Bookseller, Penguin is offering WH Smith Travel a 72 per cent discount on the cover price of its imprints.

“By creating a monopoly situation in a very significant section of the retail guidebook market, this deal is manifestly anti-competitive and will reduce choice for consumers,” said Jon Sparks, travel photographer and secretary of the OWPG.

“Although our members’ prime focus is on the outdoors, there are many among us who also produce travel guides, and many more who produce walking, cycling and other outdoors guides for overseas destinations. This move places other publishers at a serious disadvantage and thereby directly undermines our members’ future earnings potential.

“It also appears to be wholly at odds with WH Smith’s well-publicised corporate responsibility policies.”

His sentiments were echoed by guidebook author and editor Sue Viccars, who is also a member of the OWPG. “This unprecedented step will limit choice for the consumer,” she said. “Customers have – quite rightly – grown to expect a broad range of guidebooks at popular sales points such as airports.

“The industry owes its diverse customer base – family, trekker, independent traveller, retired couple and the rest –  this opportunity. Limiting the number and range of authors used will not give a sufficiently broad view of those destinations covered, and many destinations will be excluded altogether.

“This move will severely curtail customer options, and will be highly detrimental to the potential development of the guidebook industry as a whole.’ ”

PS As an act of transparency I am not a member of the OWPG. Just because bloggers give their work away for free on the web we don’t qualify to be members. Nor do we warrant a reply from them either when we enquire about membership. But that is a rant for another time.

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