Chief Executive’s Office
As Chief Executive of the Books Council, Helgard reports to the Chair and Board of Trustees. She is responsible for leading and setting the strategic direction of the Books Council and advocating for our sector with government and Creative Wales, our principal funders.
Originally from Germany and multilingual, Helgard has a wealth of experience in academic, professional, illustrated and trade publishing.
Her career in publishing began at Routledge and included working for a year in Russia. She was Head of Sales & Rights at Rockport / RotoVision publishers in Brighton before joining the Books Council in 2005 as International Sales Officer and then Head of Sales & Marketing.
From 2010-2017, she was Head of the University of Wales Press, before returning to the Books Council to take up the post of Chief Executive.
Helgard is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and in 2021 joined the Gorsedd of the Bards for services to the arts in Wales.
Other Books Council Departments
Publishing Development
We distribute funding from Welsh Government in the form of grants to Welsh- and English-language book and magazine publishers. Our aim is to support the publication of high-quality content in Welsh and English, and to ensure that the material is widely available to readers. Our editorial team supports publishers with copy-editing and proof-reading services.
Head of Publishing Development: R. Arwel Jones
English Publishing Development contact: english.grants@books.wales (Opens email)
Welsh Publishing Development contact grantiau.cymraeg@llyfrau.cymru (Opens email)
Children’s Books and Reading Promotion
We promote reading for pleasure and celebrate the transformative power of reading. We run campaigns to promote reading and provide resources for schools and support for teachers to help embed reading as a daily part of school life. Working with schools, libraries, bookshops and partners across Wales and beyond, we aim to help children, young people and readers of all ages discover a love of reading.
Head of Children’s Books and Reading Promotion: Bethan Jones
Contact the team: plant@llyfrau.cymru (Opens email)
Distribution Centre
Our Distribution Centre is the heart of the publishing industry in Wales. This purpose-built warehouse is home to around a million books at any one time. Here, we hold stock for most of the publishers in Wales, ready for distribution to bookshops, homes and overseas. The Centre is self-funding and receives no public subsidy for its day-to-day operations.
Head of the Distribution Centre: Arwel Evans
Contact the team: distribution.centre@books.wales (Opens email)
Sales & Information
Our sales team is responsible for sales to shops and retailers. We support bookshops with support, advice, and funding for outreach events, as well as running promotional activity such as the Wales Books of the Month and producing sales catalogues such as Winter Reads.
We manage our online sales platform, ffolio.wales for buying books from Wales online in all formats. All purchases have the facility to support an independent bookshop in Wales.
Contact our sales team: sales@books.wales (Opens email)
Communications, Marketing and Design
We work to tell the stories of our sector, publicise grants and opportunities, and to celebrate books and reading. We support bookshops, publishers and libraries, and work with partners on campaigns such as World Book Day, Bookshop Day and Reading Well to help readers across Wales find their next book.
Our design team offers a design service for publishers; for creating book covers, designing complete books, or providing visual material for books.
Head of Communications, Marketing and Design: Deborah Wood
Finance and Governance
We work closely with colleagues in all departments to ensure that the Books Council is operating effectively across all aspects of our work, ensuring sound procurement practices and value for money.
Finance and Business Manager: Rhian Davies
Contact our Finance Team: accounts@books.wales (Opens email)