Sharing our passion for all things automotive for 30 years …

We love cars. We love bikes.

In fact, we love everything automotive, and a host of things besides. Keen to share our enthusiasm with like-minded people everywhere, we create books covering every area, aspect, and interest in the motoring world.

David and Charles acquires the business of Veloce Publishing

David and Charles has acquired the business of Veloce Publishing for an undisclosed sum in an asset purchase agreement completed on 1st February 2024.

The Veloce, Hubble & Hattie and Earthworld imprints have all transferred to David and Charles, along with Veloce staff and all UK and international distribution and sales relationships.

Veloce is best known for publishing books in the automotive genre, where it is a category market leader. Under David and Charles ownership, the business will continue to publish new books while maintaining the enviable backlist of specialist titles for classic car, classic motorcycle and motorsport enthusiasts.

James Woollam, Managing Director of David and Charles said: “We are delighted to have completed this deal and to be bringing the Veloce business to David and Charles. Although the reader demographic is new, the publishing strategy at Veloce has been very similar to our existing focus on art, craft and wellbeing books. We’re excited at the opportunities to develop and grow the Veloce business in the future.”

Rod Grainger and Judith Brooks, founders and Directors of Veloce Publishing Ltd, said: “We have found a very fitting new home for Veloce in David and Charles, and are excited about their enthusiasm to develop the Veloce imprint. With over 30 years of running Veloce Publishing Ltd behind us, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our authors, business partners and employees for their support and role in the Veloce business.”

Current Veloce Director, Rod Grainger, will remain working with David and Charles as a consultant for 12 months.

David and Charles is an independent publishing company with a focus on publishing into niche hobby and interest categories. The D&C imprint was originally established in 1960, but the current business was established in 2019 after a management buy-out from American ownership.

Veloce Publishing was founded in 1991 and takes its name from the model name given to faster Alfa Romeo models and the manufacturer of Velocette motorcycles. The Hubble & Hattie imprint was launched in 2009 as a separate imprint to publish into new categories, including outdoors, animal care and welfare.

For more information, contact James Woollam – james@davidandcharles.com, 07989 234372.

David and Charles Limited | Tourism House, Pynes Hill, Exeter EX2 5WS Company number 12094811 | VAT number: 326 9271 86

History

Rod Grainger and Judith Brooks – who between them have over 60 years' publishing experience in the automotive field – founded Veloce in September 1991, having previously worked for Haynes. Rod is a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and has written a number of automotive books. In fact, one of Veloce's first books, and one that is still a top seller, was penned by Rod.

Named after the faster Alfa Romeo models, and with a pleasing nod to the manufacturer of Velocette motorcycles, Veloce was launched from two spare rooms of Rod and Judith's barn conversion home, in the small Dorset village of Godmanstone. Now located in Poundbury, part of the County town of Dorchester – the 'Casterbridge' of Thomas Hardy's famous novels.

We have a simple philosophy: our mission is to provide books of the highest quality in terms of content, accuracy, design, subject range, and – of course – reader satisfaction, to discerning automotive enthusiasts the world over. In 2009 the Hubble & Hattie imprint was launched, with the same mission, but applied to books covering the animal world, promoting compassion, understanding, and respect between all animals – even us humans. In 2018, Veloce launched Earthworld Publishing, applying our mission to books covering all other areas of interest.

Each and every publication we make – across all of our imprints – is created with accuracy of content and quality of design at the forefront. We can do this because we count some of the most respected, admired, and knowledgeable names from the worlds of motorsports, journalism, manufacture, and beyond amongst our authors. Combine this with the cutting-edge literary, production, and design skills from our staff – the Velocisti – and we think we have a winning combination.

You

The most vital team member. You. We know that our passion for all things automotive is shared by our readers worldwide, and that's what makes Veloce Publishing possible. With our ever growing catalogue, covering three imprints and a whole world of subjects, we're always interested in hearing what you want to read, and how we can provide the right subjects for your passion – and what you want to write. If you have an idea for a book, get in touch and tell us! Or if there's a subject that you'd like to see published, but can't find on the shelves, email us: we're always here to listen to your book ideas, and not only automotive subjects. Who knows? You could see your book in print with a Veloce imprint!

We love what we do, and we love sharing our passion with our readers: as one famous marque put it,