​One of Bath’s most successful and unusual employers is in new ownership.

BBC Worldwide has sold an 85 per cent stake in its BBC Audiobooks arm to a private firm.

AudioGo will keep all 100 staff in Bath, where the organisation has offices and a studio at Lower Bristol Road  and a mail order store at Windsor Bridge. Managing director Mike Bowen will stay on in the role.

BBC Worldwide will retain a 15 per cent stake in the business, which was set up in 2001, and is the leading audio publisher in the country.

Its products are available on CD and in downloadable formats for retail and library markets.

BBC Audiobooks will now trade as AudioGo, with the firm continuing to publish BBC-sourced content under the BBC Audiobooks name.

BBC Worldwide chief executive John Smith said: “I’m pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the sale process we initiated last year.  BBC Worldwide will remain a shareholder in the business, and looks forward to participating in its future success.  Sale proceeds will be reinvested in our international businesses, supporting future returns to the BBC, and therefore benefiting the licence fee-payer.”

Paul Dempsey, managing director of BBC Worldwide’s home entertainment division, said the partnership would enable BBC Audiobooks to develop its catalogue and services.

“This agreement mirrors the successful publishing joint ventures we have put in place for our books businesses.”

AudioGo was set up by a group of investors brought together by Michael Kuhn and two former colleagues at entertainment firm PolyGram.

Mr Kuhn, now chairman of AudioGo, said: “The partners in AudioGo are committed to building on the past achievements of BBC Audiobooks as it enters the digital age. Opportunities are many and exciting and we will immediately get to it with Mike Bowen and his team, and in partnership with BBC Worldwide, to create new offerings to our customers worldwide.”

BBC Audiobooks regularly brings big names to Bath to record products and is a six-times winner of the Audio Publisher of the Year title. The company also has a thriving large print books business that provides titles to UK and international libraries, and a direct mail business, the Audiobook Collection.

Last year it recorded its one millionth download purchase, reflecting a 30 per cent growth in digital sales on the previous year.

Bath MP Don Foster, who before the election was his party’s media spokesman, said he was pleased with the continuity offered by the deal, with staff offered the same conditions - barring their entitlement to a BBC pension.