LONDON, Thursday 20th March 2025: Emma Lowe has today been announced as the new Director of The London Book Fair, succeeding Adam Ridgway as he goes on to retire, following a successful 36-year-long career in conferences and exhibitions. She will take up the role in July this year. Previous LBF Director Gareth Rapley, now Interim Portfolio Director for LBF at RX, will oversee the Fair until Emma starts in her new position.
Emma Lowe has over two decades of experience in the book industry. She began her career at RX working on LBF latterly as Head of Sales, before moving on to become commercial director at The Bookseller between 2014 and 2023. After leaving the Bookseller Emma took up roles directly within the industry working at GlassBoxx as publishing account director, and then more recently moving on to HarperCollins as head of events. In her previous role, Lowe was responsible for HarperCollins’ internal and external corporate events, including attendance at The London Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair, along with the planning and execution of the HarperCollins author party at the V&A and the pre-LBF party.
During her tenure at The Bookseller, Lowe spearheaded events including the British Book Awards, FutureBook and the Marketing & Publicity Conference, alongside of working with LBF as part of the media partnership. At GlassBoxx, she has helped the e-commerce solutions provider with its collaborations across the publishing industry.
Gareth Rapley, Interim Portfolio Director for LBF at RX, said: “We’re thrilled to have found someone who has the unique combination of experience of RX, knowledge of LBF and a well-rounded understanding the book industry. The last few years have been a time of great change for the Fair, following the disruption caused by the pandemic and the ongoing reconstruction works at Olympia. We have absolute confidence Emma will take the Fair forward in the coming years, applying her extensive and first-hand knowledge of the sector to deliver a successful fair that remains relevant to the entire industry and enables it to thrive.”
David Roche, Non-Executive Chair of The London Book Fair Advisory Board, said: “Emma Lowe is the ideal person to lead LBF, particularly with the resurgence of book fairs post-Covid and a fully operational Olympia coming on stream over the next couple of years. She has a unique set of skills and experiences, having worked for Reed/LBF and The Bookseller, for publishing services companies, and in the progressive industry giant, HarperCollins. This combination will be welcomed by the trade, as will Emma’s empathetic personality and winning persona, as well as the stability her appointment brings. The LBF Advisory Board and I look forward to working with Emma and her team.”
Emma Lowe, Director of The London Book Fair, said: “The London Book Fair was my runway into this wonderful world of books and I’m delighted to be returning at such an important moment for in-person businesses. We are an industry that thrives on face to face interaction and the moments when we come together are absolutely vital to our publishing ecosystem.
I’ve loved my year at HarperCollins. Being part of the dynamic team that organised the unveiling and celebration of the new warehouse at Robroyston was a particular highlight and honour. I’ve learned an enormous amount working alongside Fiona Allen and her exceptional comms team who I will miss greatly. But opportunities like this don’t come up very often and having gone from The Bookseller to a tech disruptor, to a big four publisher, I am hugely excited to be getting back to my roots at the centre of the trade, and reinforcing London as the natural home of the international rights business.”