Which company originally sponsored the Booker Prize?

The company that originally sponsored the Booker Prize was Booker-McConnell.

The prize was first awarded in 1969 after publisher Tom Maschler and literary figures developed the idea of an award to encourage interest in contemporary fiction. Booker-McConnell, a company with major commercial interests in Guyana and an unusual Authors’ Division, agreed to provide financial backing.

The inaugural Booker Prize went to P. H. Newby for Something to Answer For, with a prize of £5,000. The award’s early association with Booker-McConnell explains why “Booker” became part of its enduring name.

The sponsorship later changed. Man Group became the title sponsor in 2002, producing the name Man Booker Prize, and Crankstart took over in 2019. Those later sponsors are therefore not the answer to “originally sponsored.” Booker-McConnell is also sometimes written as Booker McConnell or Booker–McConnell.