In August 2000, Malcolm answered an advertisement in the local Avon Advertiser newspaper regarding an offer of employment with Foyles Educational Childrens Books Ltd. He was invited to an interview at their office and warehouse in Andover and was quickly accepted as confirmed in their letter of 30 September 2000. A training day followed the next week.

The job was to host one day book fairs at primary schools in London and southern counties. Arrangements had previously been made with the schools by someone within Foyles and the books were prepared ready and sorted into categories in small containers. These were then loaded into a van ready for collection on the day of the fair. A snag was that the job entailed an early start which, in winter, was not ideal. Arrival at the school was expected to be at the start of day so there was sufficient time to set up the display. That meant leaving Andover at around 4am which, in turn, required leaving home an hour earlier. Driving in a frosted up car on slippery roads was not much fun but did concentrate the mind.

Malcolm soon got himself into a pattern of work despite having no particular knowledge of the books he was selling. He would have to find his way to the school and park the van. On arrival at a school, he would present himself and find out where he was to set up the display. He would then unload the van and lay out the books in a structured manner. He would use what furniture was available and use coloured table cloths to signify certain categories of book. There was also usually a banner to place out at the front of the school to advertise the event.

In most schools, the day had been planned to bring one class at a time to the fair and allow the children to browse. Usually they had been given money to buy their choice, sometimes contained in a small envelope. Malcolm had to work out for himself what money he should bring as a float in order to give change. With each purchase, a Foyles book marker was given as a gift. At one location the children did not have money with them so each purchase had to be logged and details left with the teacher to pay at a later date. This was all quite a lot to manage single handed with mobs of children swarming around.

At one Catholic girls school in West London, Malcolm noticed that a particular author was selling more than any other. After a while, one of the nuns approached Malcolm to say that author should not have been on sale and that had been agreed previously. Malcolm had not been told this and the books should not have been included in his consignment so he had to arrange to gather them all back and refund the money.

The total load of the books was heavy so a van was the usual mode of transport. However, occasionally a Volvo estate car was sometimes required if there were two events on the same day. Malcolm had this car on several occasions. Although the engine was powerful enough to handle the weight, the suspension was not and the whole vehicle was completely out of kilter and Malcolm had to peer over the front of the bonnet which was sticking up in the air. He was lucky not to had a mishap or be stopped by the police.

The satisfaction of the job to Malcolm was to be able to quickly organise himself at each new unknown location then cope with the flow of business as it came. The job became a bit easier when a laptop was issued to scan the books through and log the sales. At several schools, Malcolm was asked, without warning, to read to the children and this he enjoyed but selecting a suitable book was a bit haphazard. At one school, he was asked to judge a fancy dress competition. This was a bit tricky as it was obvious that some parents had spent time and money on superior costumes and others probably did not have enough income to do too much. He had his selections having taken this into account and, as he suspected, there were sounds of disapproval from some quarters. Of course, this was inevitable, whatever his choice. Being an anonymous visitor, he was doubtless the scapegoat thus letting the teachers off the hook.

The company had a Christmas party in a pub in rural Wiltshire near Salisbury. Malcolm attended but there had been days of heavy rain previously and he had to keep doubling back to avoid floods.

The following year, the business was bought out by a former employee who had a grudge against some of the management. Along with other staff who presented the fairs, Malcolm was asked if he wished to continue but, as his immediate manager who had been ousted, he resigned along with his colleagues.