8 July 2009
Chris West to leave Macmillan
[A Spanish translation of this announcement can be found here ]
It is with regret that I announce that Chris West, Regional Director for Latin America, will be leaving Macmillan after many years of outstanding service. Chris’ last day in the office will be later in July.
Chris has worked for Macmillan in Britain, Africa, the Middle East, the United States, and Latin America. He has been based in Mexico since 1980, and was a founding shareholder of Macmillan’s first Latin American company in Mexico in 1982. Macmillan now has four English Language Teaching companies and three Spanish Curriculum Publishing companies in Latin America, and nearly 800 employees.
In his remarkable and varied career with Macmillan, Chris started out in sales in Africa but he will be best remembered for his leadership in building the Latin American businesses pretty well from scratch to the position of pre-eminence and prestige held today across Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Peru. Chris’ stature as an educational publisher and businessman rests in part on his professionalism and dedication but more significantly on his profound understanding of and empathy with his customers, colleagues and staff and his winning combination of intelligence and charm.
Annette Thomas, Chief Executive Macmillan Publishers Ltd, paid tribute to Chris, saying: “It has been a privilege to work with Chris and to see how he has managed such an amazing record of growth and success. It will be very difficult for all of us to see him go. He will be enormously missed and we wish him the very best.”
Annette Thomas
Chief Executive
Macmillan Publishers Ltd