Reed Elsevier Quits Arms Exhibitions

Publishers Marketplace alluded to this in Sunday night’s email but the Times has more on the decision by BEA‘s parent company to extricate itself from the arms world after a sustained campaign from doctors, healthcare groups, authors and pacifist organizations. Reed Elsevier‘s biggest arms fair is the Defence Systems and Equipment International, which is held every two years at London’s Excel arena. The group will stage the next show in September but will quit the defense exhibitions sector by the second half of this year.

Sir Crispin Davis, chief executive, said: “Our defence shows are quality businesses, which have performed well in recent years. Nonetheless, it has become increasingly clear that growing numbers of important customers and authors have very real concerns about our involvement in the defence exhibitions business. We have listened closely to these concerns and this has led us to conclude that the defence shows are no longer compatible with Reed Elsevier’s position as a leading publisher of scientific, medical, legal and business content.”