2 October 2026 – On 30 September 2026, Hachette UK’s staff attended the annual Changing the Story Festival, a day dedicated to accelerating and celebrating the business’s DEI commitment. Over 800 staff attended a full day of programming packed with authors and changemakers such as Alice Oseman, Patrice Lawrence MBE, Selina Brown, Asad Dhunna, Jonathan Freedland, Raymond Antrobus, Hollie McNish and Matt Goodfellow.

To celebrate 10 years of Changing the Story, the festival also featured an installation of original artwork and videos celebrating 10 major milestones in Hachette’s commitment to including all voices, perspectives, and ideas in our partnerships, people, and publishing.

This year’s event, programmed by Hachette’s DEI team, Ella Patel and Carrie Bloxson, featured six events themed around ‘Inclusion for Success’ to explore what the concept means for Hachette, from progress in building an inclusive culture to how they can reach more readers.

David Shelley opened the festival with a keynote speech, reflecting on the origin story of Changing the Story and the impact the work has had on the business: “It’s impossible to overstate the role the networks have had in the past decade in pushing for change, holding me and the board to account, and also providing a safe and social space for people to come together. I think it’s also important to acknowledge the role the national offices have played in helping us attract and retain talent and widen our thinking beyond a London-centric model. I feel enormously invested and passionate about Changing the Story, and I feel that the story has begun to change, but we still have so much more to do.”

Panel events and keynotes covered representation, sustainability, neurodiversity, pluralism and inclusive publishing. The day closed with a moving performance by three award-winning writers and poets, featuring work inspired by inclusion, and a powerful speech by Katie Espiner, newly announced as the next CEO of Hachette UK, who spoke about the power of literacy and the magic of books and reading.

Ella Patel, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, said: “The day was not just about learning and sparking ideas, but about the meaningful actions that follow. It is about taking what we learned and putting it into practice, carrying that inspiration forward to make a positive impact. The Changing the Story 10 Installation was a powerful reminder of what we can achieve when we collaborate, take risks and challenge the way things have always been done. Amanda Perry, entrepreneur, coach, and author of Brain First Business challenged us to ask ourselves: ‘who does this not work for?’ Representation and Inclusion is a commercial imperative; when we publish inclusively from the outset, everyone benefits.

Carrie Bloxson, Chief Strategy and Inclusion Officer, said: “Changing the Story is a moment to celebrate how far we have come, but also to look ahead at what more we can do. Inclusion is not a destination; it is an ongoing commitment to listening, learning and challenging ourselves to do better. As we look to the next ten years, our ambition is to keep building a culture where everyone can contribute, where different perspectives are valued, and where the books we publish can reach and resonate with as many readers as possible.”