Published October 16, 2026 · The Digital Desk, America Publishers
Fraser Tanner will step down as CEO of Batch for Books at the end of October 2026, bringing a 26-year association with Batch to a close. Izzy Carlile, managing director of U.K.-based Batch Ltd, will assume responsibility for the U.S. operation following his departure. The change places the American business under a leader already familiar with the wider organization and its work with the book trade.
Publishers Weekly reported the announcement on October 14. Tanner, who has led Batch for Books for the past two years, plans to pursue new opportunities. His departure follows a period in which the U.S. operation expanded its network of participating bookstores and publishers, extending the reach of a platform designed to simplify payments and communication between trading partners.
The transition connects two stages of Tanner’s career: his long involvement in developing Batch and his more recent focus on its American business. He joined Batch Ltd as managing director in 2000, bringing experience from foreign exchange. Before entering the book industry, he helped introduce an internet trading solution for business-to-business payments through international banking systems.
That background proved relevant to the administrative demands of bookselling. Bookstores work with multiple publishers and suppliers, each generating financial records that need to be received, checked, and paid. Tanner’s experience with electronic transactions informed his work on systems intended to improve the exchange of payment information across those relationships.
At Batch, his contribution extended to the platform’s technical and commercial development. Over more than two decades, his responsibilities involved helping businesses exchange information and manage transactions within the book trade. His move to the U.S. CEO role in 2024 gave him a more concentrated brief: developing Batch for Books and increasing its participation in the American market.
Tanner described the past two years as a period of substantial progress. In the announcement reported by Publishers Weekly, he said Batch had added most of the top 10 U.S. publishers to its system, alongside more than 700 bookstores. He presented that expansion as fulfilling the objective he had set when taking responsibility for the U.S. business: establishing Batch as an accepted part of the country’s book trade.
Batch for Books allows bookstores to manage invoices, credits, and payments to participating vendors through a shared platform. As more publishers join, bookstores can manage a broader range of supplier accounts within the system.
The company’s bookseller guidance describes a payment process in which stores authorize the invoices they wish to pay and the credits they want to apply. They then transfer the combined payment amount to Batch. This gives booksellers a way to handle transactions involving participating suppliers through a shared system rather than treating every payment as an entirely separate administrative task.
Batch also supports integration with desktop and online versions of QuickBooks through BatchSync. That connection allows invoice information to move into a bookstore’s accounting software, reducing the need to enter the same information manually. These functions illustrate the practical work behind the company’s expansion: connecting financial records and payment activity with the systems bookstores already use.
Hachette Book Group was among the publishers to announce a partnership with Batch for Books during Tanner’s U.S. leadership. Tanner described its addition as a milestone for the platform and its users. The announcement highlighted the partnership’s role in improving workflows between booksellers and publishers.
Carlile brings experience in retail, supply chain, and distribution to her expanded responsibilities. She joined Batch in 2022 and succeeded Tanner as managing director of Batch Ltd in 2024, when he shifted his focus to the U.S. operation.
The Bookseller reported on October 13 that Carlile would assume responsibility following a full handover. The company said the transition would focus on maintaining momentum and continuity for booksellers, publishers, partners, and staff.
Tanner’s departure will close a tenure that began in 2000 and included two years focused on U.S. expansion. Carlile will assume responsibility for Batch for Books at the end of October, following a period in which the company broadened its network of participating publishers and bookstores.
Source: “Fraser Tanner to leave Batch after 26 years, October 13, 2026.” Read more at TheBookseller.com.
Additional sources: Batch for Books team biographies, Hachette Book Group’s partnership announcement, and Publishers Weekly’s report.
