Shelley is past President of the Publishers Association, a trustee of The Reading Agency and a director of Tate Enterprises.
[8] David Shelley grew up living above the second-hand bookshop in Lewes, East Sussex, that his parents ran, and after a state education he became the first in his family to attend university, graduating from New College, Oxford,[1] where he read English (1994–97).
[4] Following the murder of George Floyd on 25 May 2020, Hachette UK donated £10,000 to The United Families and Friends Campaign (a grouping of families and friends of those who have died in the custody of police and prison officers), and £10,000 to The Inclusive Indies Fund, to help diversity-led independent publishers survive the coronavirus crisis.
These events highlight the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and, closer to home, they underpin the vital work of THRIVE, Hachette's network for BAME employees, Changing The Story, our strategy to make the company more inclusive at all levels, and Dialogue Books, our imprint focused on illuminating voices often excluded from the mainstream.
[18][19] Shelley has also expressed a commitment to regional diversity, with plans for Hachette to open new offices in Sheffield, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester and Bristol, so as "to forge closer links to the brilliant pool of creative talent outside the 'London bubble' and connect more closely with readers, authors and booksellers around the UK to enrich our publishing.