LONDON (Brand Republic) 鈥 Pearson, owner of the Financial Times and Penguin Books, has axed 54,000 jobs with the closure of Dorling Kindersley鈥檚 retail division, Family Learning.
Around 13,000 jobs will go in the UK with the rest lost at Family Learning鈥檚 international operations.
A Pearson spokeswoman said the business had lost £14m globally last year, which could not be sustained鈥. She added, 鈥淧earson has given Family Learning鈥檚 employees 30 days鈥 notice instead of the 14 days it was legally required to give.鈥 The company is not under obligation to pay compensation.
Pearson acquired family-run Dorling Kindersley for £311m in April after the book publisher got into financial trouble when it over-ordered Star Wars books and was left with 10m unsold copies.
Peter Kindersley founded the company in 1974. Kindersley made £105m from the sale.