INTERNATIONAL publishing house The Quarto Group is opening a new office in Brighton - creating the largest publishing hub in the South East.

The new office is home to 60 staff working across editorial and design, production, marketing and foreign sales, focusing on developing and publishing non-fiction illustrated books.

Quarto has had a small long-standing presence in Western Road for a number of years, but the move to Ovest House in West Street represents a considerable expansion of its operations.

The office will be led by David Breuer, director of Quarto International Co-Editions Group, and a long-time Brighton resident.

He said he hoped the hub would become a “magnet for all creative people in the region.”

David said: “Brighton has lots of talented, creative people so we thought it would sensible to expand our presence. It’s a very attractive place to work, so it seemed to me to be the logical step.

“We are committed to building something important here. It’s vibrant and exciting and it’s always had a creative edge.”

More than two decades ago David Breuer was commercial director for the Royal Pavilion, Art Gallery and Museums of Brighton, built the Royal Pavilion Shop, and was heavily involved in Brighton’s creative activities across art, drama, performance and poetry.

He still receives correspondence over the highly influential Captain Beefheart exhibition he curated for the Museum in the 1990s.

Seven imprints will be based in Quarto’s Brighton office.

Quintet Publishing is relocating from London and is best known for its multimillion-copy selling 500 series, as well as titles from LEGO™ architecture to loom band fashion.

Global Book Publishing, established in Sydney in 1999 and relocating from Australia, produces illustrated reference works on history, botany and anatomy.

Ivy Press, Ivy Kids and Leaping Hare Press are relocating from Lewes, following their acquisition by Quarto in March 2015. Ivy Press produces books on natural history, popular science, arts, crafts and design; Ivy Kids produces kids’ books; and Leaping Hare Press publishes books on ethics, spiritual values and mindfulness.

Qu:id Publishing and RotoVision have been established in Brighton for many years, with Qu:id producing titles on history, gardening, graphic design and popular science, and RotoVision on design, art, hair and beauty, and crafts.