History

Stephan Phillips was founded in 1997 to publish and distribute its first coffee table book titled Wines and Brandies of the Cape of Good Hope: The Definitive Guide to the South African Wine Industry. Since that first day, Stephan Phillips has published a revised edition titled New World of Wine from the Cape of Good Hope: The Definitive Guide to the South African Wine Industry. This book is now out of print and the company is in the process of publishing its third revised edition titled A Day in the Winelands of the Cape of Good Hope. Stephan Phillips printed 17,500 copies of the first two editions. Given the scope of the South African market, these books have done extremely well and have remained on the best seller lists continuously for ten years.

Since 1997, Stephan Phillips has grown in three directions:

First: It has continued to publish on subjects that range from history (The Diary of Vasco da Gama) to local literature (Soul of the White Ant) to contemporary political economy (The Scramble for Africa in the 21st Century: A View from the South). The company will continue to publish lavish coffee table books as well as books on contemporary history, politics and economics. The company has also entered into joint ventures with other South African publishers.

Second: During the apartheid era, South Africa was essentially deprived of contemporary books for various reasons. In a sense the population was covered by a blanket of censorship that was particularly destructive to the indigenous population. Stephan Phillips has, as a central idea, attempted to bring books back to South Africans in order to foster a culture of reading once again in the nation. Accordingly, the company represents some 30 publishers from Europe, the United Kingdom, The United States of America, Canada and Malaysia. The focus ranges from politics and economics to contemporary design, which provides a broad spectrum of interest to the reading public.

Third: In order to maintain control of its core business, Stephan Phillips has grown its own distribution business. This means that it has full coverage of the nation's book stores with company representatives stationed in the core metropolitan areas of Johannesburg and Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth. The company also maintains its own warehouses and staff to house and deliver all its products, not only in South Africa, but also in Botswana, Namibia and Kenya. Although the company is still small in terms of such giants as Booksite Africa, it has developed the capacity to market and distribute books on a similar basis as these larger firms. This gives the company a unique footing in the book industry, as smaller publishing houses have to rely on third parties to gain this coverage or footprint across the country.

Focus & Growth

We anticipate growth in the following key areas, and have restructured into interdependent, but clearly defined business units.

• Stephan Phillips Logistics
• Stephan Phillips Sales and Marketing
• Stephan Phillips Publishing

This will ensure we manage these core businesses professionally, and with the fullest commitment to their needs.

Directors

Stephan Phillips is a private company. Forty-five per cent of the stock is held by its employees. The remaining fifty-five per cent is held by Dr. Harry Stephan. As such the company is backed by Stephan Bros (Pty) Ltd, a related-party company that will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2009. Thus the roots of the company delve deeply into the economic and financial structures of the South African business environment. The Board of Directors consists of the following:

Managing Director: Dr. Harry Stephan
Sales Director: Mr. Owen Early
Financial Director: Mr. Dawood Shaboodien
Marketing Director: Mr. George Thorne

The company is an equal opportunity employer and strives to create a broad mix across its staff with special emphasis on gender and previously disadvantaged South Africans.