Company History
Portobello Books Ltd was founded in 2005, at a time when the dynamics of conglomerate publishing in the English-speaking world mean that fewer and fewer literary works of singularity and significance are being published vigorously and with due respect for the author as creator and for the book as durable transmitter of wisdom and wonder.
‘An intriguing, provocative addition to British publishing.’ Guardian
Portobello Books is independently funded and therefore able to take more risks than is common in contemporary publishing. Its founders are Sigrid Rausing, Eric Abraham and Philip Gwyn Jones.
Sigrid Rausing is a philanthropist whose work in the Human Rights sector can be seen here.
Eric Abraham is an Academy Award-winning film, TV and theatre producer, and head of our sibling Portobello Pictures.
Philip Gwyn Jones is the former Publisher of Flamingo, where he published, amongst others, Isabel Allende, JG Ballard, Douglas Coupland, Naomi Klein, Jhumpa Lahiri, Doris Lessing, Mark Lynas, Magnus Mills, Samantha Power, Arundhati Roy and Amy Tan.
The new house published its first books in the autumn of 2005. Now we publish about two dozen original titles a year. With the support of publishers and agents from around the world, the house has been able to attract a diverse and talented collection of authors, whose writing has enabled Portobello quickly to establish a reputation for publishing books that make news, win prizes, change minds, and enrich lives.
Here are some of the things that people have kindly said about us:
‘Portobello’s intelligent risk-taking is more than a blessing.’ Ali Smith
‘I’m pretty much expecting everything Portobello does to end up in my Must Read pile.’ Douglas Coupland
‘The times call for courage and Portobello has arrived. Get ready for fearless, risk-taking publishing.’ Naomi Klein
‘Elegant, edgy, original: essential beacons for illuminating our cloudy times. How much we need them.’ Amy Tan
‘I am delighted to see something so elegant and classy coming back to the world of books.’ Patricia Duncker
‘An intriguing, provocative addition to British publishing.’ Guardian
‘Britain is changing as rapidly as the wider world around it changes. We need great books that help us keep up with and understand those changes (and that are fun to read too), and I hope that Portobello is able to get them out to a really broad readership.’ Meera Syal
‘If a Portobello book doesn’t surprise and impress you, you probably wrote it.’ Tim Moore
