David Whitaker (publisher)

David Haddon Whitaker OBE (died 4 August 2021) was a British book publisher.

[1] The firm was the main supplier of business information and bibliographical data to the British book industry.

[4] The catalyst for the development of Standard Book Numbers (SBNs) was the establishment of a computerised warehouse facility by major bookseller WHSmith.

Professor Gordon Foster of the London School of Economics was commissioned to devise a book numbering system, which became the SBN.

[2] Whitaker noted there was some resistance to the system, including from Macmillan Publishers, a major producer of educational textbooks.

Whitaker also produced, with colleague James Coates, a 12-page manual on the SBN system that was sent, free of charge, to every British publisher.

[1] The introduction of the ISBN had a large effect on the industry, enabling the barcoding of books, electronic ordering and more efficient compilation of sales data.

He was noted for adopting a policy of encouraging women in the trade, which was then dominated by white men, through the stories it covered.

[2] He also successfully defended a libel claim made by media baron Robert Maxwell and won his legal costs.

[3] Outside of the firm Whitaker campaigned against a proposed introduction of value-added tax on books and in support of the Public Lending Right.

He also helped to create the trade standards body Editeur and the supply chain organisation the Book Industry Communication.