Meet the Founder: Adam Pollard

Tell us about The Willoughby Book Club and how the club was found, we heard from a kitchen table?!

Yes, that’s right. The book club was born on our kitchen table back in September 2012. We’d been looking for book subscription gifts for some time, and being unable to find anything, we thought we’d launch something ourselves!

6 years later, we’re a growing team of 10 sending thousands of books out each month to subscribers in over 30 countries. Our subscriptions are available in over 20 stockists, and last year saw our launch onto the high street.



Where does your love for books stem from? Do you have a Top 3?

We’ve always been voracious readers, and a genuine passion for books is an absolute must amongst our team. I’m sure we could all provide you with a ‘Top 3’ list of our favourite titles, but it’s likely to change on any given day. Too many books, not enough time to read them!



With so much choice, you must have a process for selecting which books make it into the Willoughby Book Club?

All of our book subscriptions are entirely personalised to the recipient’s individual reading tastes. Our subscribers provide us with information about their favourite books, authors and genres, and our team of ‘Book Selections Managers’ use this information to handpick and send them a brand new book each month.

All of our books are gift-wrapped, and the first delivery includes some extra bookish goodies.



Your subscribers range from children to adults, all with different reading preferences, have you seen a trend in what people like to read in 2018?

It’s a difficult question to answer because we cater for such a wide variety of reading tastes and interests, and subscribers often join our service to explore new areas of reading.

Having said that, Crime/Thriller continues to be a very popular genre, and we’re seeing an increasing number of Young Adult subscribers join the club.

Ultimately, no matter what our subscribers enjoy, we can usually cater to their tastes!



For every subscription sold, you donate a new book to Book Aid International. Could you tell us a bit more about this partnership and do you know how many books you may have donated so far?

We partnered with Book Aid International in the very early stages of our existence (March 2013).

For every subscription we sell, we donate a book to support the charities vital developmental and educational work. Ultimately most of our books are sent to schools, colleges and libraries across the continent.

We launched the book club as a means of sharing our love of great literature with as many people as possible, and we’re extremely proud to be able to do so with those readers who might not necessarily have access to books in the same way that we do.

Whilst we can’t divulge exactly how many books we’ve donated to date, I’m happy to tell you that it’s many, many thousands...!




What can subscribers expect from future book deliveries? Why subscribe?

Why subscribe? The Willoughby Book Club is the largest book subscription provider in the UK, with thousands of subscribers worldwide. We’ve over 300 Five star rated reviews on Trustpilot and you can buy our subscriptions from over 20 stockists.

Most importantly, we’re a team of dedicated bookworms with over 20 years experience of working within the book trade, and who take pleasure in sourcing the very best books for our subscribers to enjoy.

So if you’re looking for the perfect gift for the book worm in your life, look no further than The Willoughby Book Club!