Mike Norbury
CONGRATULATIONS to the one and only Mike Norbury as he rolls up his sleeves and relaxes in sunny Spain following his retirement from Kevin Mayhew Ltd — and what a day to retire: Mike’s 65th was May 21st 2011, the day the world ended and we were all left behind. Mike, however, has never been one to be left behind, so when he told me he’d retired, I invited him to offer us some reflections from his years in this turbulent trade… and if he was feeling brave, I suggested, perhaps he’d like to take a tentative look towards the future?
See below Mike’s ruminations for some brief notes about Kevin Mayhew accounts in the newly dawned post-Norbury era. That’s enough from me: over to Mike…
I HAD BEEN Sales Manager for a buying group that works into the newsagents and card shops industries but had been getting a lot of attack from “the management” especially when I refused to support a Hallowe’en promotion they were doing for one of our linked distributors. I was looking elsewhere and, having applied for various positions and got nowhere, God prompted me to simply write a letter to this company in Exeter telling them my current situation. The answer to that was an invitation to see Steve Thornett at Christian Art which resulted in a job!
Following the merger between Christian Art and Kingsway and the redundancies that followed I spent a short time freelancing, but one evening received a phone call asking if I was interested in a full time job: the company was Kevin Mayhew Ltd and that was almost sixteen years ago. I think the trade was already starting to change at that time although perhaps we couldn’t see it. There had already been “warnings” from the USA about future trends but, as often happens, perhaps we ignored them.
The two most obvious changes which the trade has had to face (apart from changes of distribution) have been the move in music away from CDs towards downloads and the decline in the purchasing of books from bookshops. The former has been partially addressed by companies allowing retailers to link to their downloads and sell them through their websites (as Kevin Mayhew does), but this is an area that requires very careful marketing and promotion. The latter, that of book purchasing, is far more complex.
I remember going into a store in East Anglia and being told that we were selling hymn books direct through Amazon cheaper than that retailer could purchase them through us; a quick investigation found that we had not — and incidentally still haven’t — given Amazon trade terms: the hymn books could have only got onto Amazon via one source, a Carlisle source. Later Amazon dealings became more open as they advertised the sources as part of their marketing.
So the growth of Amazon has certainly had an effect, but I believe that there is a greater one: whereas there has certainly been a decline in books aimed at the more traditional denominations, the decline in more evangelical/charismatic has, to me, been more apparent. The truth, backed up several years ago by a survey of ministers done in Derby, is that as the church’s evangelical side is growing — thus recent increases in numbers attending church rather than the previous decades of decline — so too very important elements have meant a decline in reading. As an example, in the church I attend, out of a membership of about 250, I am the sixth or seventh eldest. The vast majority are younger families with children and jobs. Also we tend to be a church where people are involved in ministry, not only within our congregation but “Go ye into the world…” with Christians Against Poverty, Street Pastors, Healing On The Streets, Schools Ministry, Community Cafe, Feeding The Roofless, etc. etc., all ministries which not only take us into the highways and byways but — at long last — have straddled the denominational divides that have previously restricted the one church of Christ being “seen” in the community, bringing brothers and sisters in Christ together representing and reflecting Jesus outside the confines of our buildings.
Talking to fellow Street Pastors, the majority admit that they now read far less than they used to because they are spending more time in ministry and, as part of that, in prayer – either in groups or by themselves.
I have often felt that everything we sell in our shops is a “luxury” rather than a necessity. When I have mentioned this to customers, almost all have said straightaway, “Apart from the Bible, of course!” Then we start reflecting on how many Bibles each of us has in our homes already!
This is, of course, a simplification of the situation. It would take a book or a ridiculously long and tedious report to put down all the facts and incidents that have changed our trade during the last twenty years or so — and another to look into the future. However our emphasis needs to be better focused: the expansion of the Kingdom. After all, that’s the only reason we’re here, isn’t it?
Below are three actions that I think are very positive actions to develop trade in shops, most of which have previously been mooted from time to time:
Re-address the stock balance in the shops: if books and CDs are declining, what is increasing? Answer: Better quality gifts and greetings cards. I am so delighted that Kevin Mayhew Ltd decided just prior to the recession to develop these areas.
Talk to the churches: hold once a year meetings for some of them; hold schools/junior church evenings; take the pastors/ministers/priests out for a coffee every so often and talk to them about THEIR needs and how you can help them.
Introduce other products and services: do you have areas in your shop where you could sell products which would attract Joe Public in off the street? Our trade does tend to be a bit exclusive. I remember one of my first visits to Northampton and seeing that Joe Storey had completely filled one window with gift wrapping paper at a silly price — people were coming into the shop to buy it and suddenly finding cards, CDs and children’s books they were also buying. In North Wales one shop is also the main stationery outlet for their town whilst another sells maps, tourism books, children’s books and secular cards as well as having a snack bar and internet café, which draw in both locals and visitors. Many have poo-pooed the Living Oasis concept of having a quality coffee shop at the front of the store, but what an excellent way of bringing people in to find what else we have to offer! What else could we do? What else are we doing already that others may like to copy? Is your local Post Office closing: could you invest in developing an area in your store to take it? (Might sound extreme but you never know).
OK, that’s enough of my ramblings as I intend to write neither a book nor a report!!!
Last Saturday was my 65th birthday and I have no doubt whatsoever that God made it clear that I was to officially retire from fulltime work on that day — OK, I know all the jokes about Christians never retire and that I’ll be far busier once I do!! — but after a year in which I lost my lovely wife, Jackie, very suddenly from illness, it is obvious I need a bit of a rest. Thus I am writing this near Mazarrón in Spain, having a well-earned break.
Oh yes, I shall be at the High Leigh event next month and you will see me at other events as the company has asked me to help them in that way, and I’m sure there will be other ways in which I will be involved. Nevertheless this will give me time to rest, reflect, pray and seek — with emphasis on the rest at the moment! — and see what God’s plans are for me in the future, while I’m still young enough to fulfill them! I got a message from friends in Bedford who are both turing 65 within these few weeks which said, “Welcome to the OAP club.” My reply was very simply, “I have no problem with the P but what’s this about OA?”
It has been my privilege and pleasure to have served God full time in this amazing Christian Distribution Industry. Visits to shops have developed into an extension of church, a wonderful church without walls that crossed the differences of denomination and stream. To have true friends — fellow worshippers — spread across these islands from Jan in Orkney to Julie in Jersey and from Padraig in Cork to Graham on Lindisfarne is an amazing thing! Thank you to all of you for your support, friendship, love and prayers over the years. I pray that you will each be guided by God in the direction that He has in mind for your respective shops. Bless you.
After Mike…
Mike’s position with Kevin Mayhew was Retail Trade Manager. Mark Lee takes over Mike’s accounts in the Midlands, North, Scotland and Ireland; Malcolm Corden takes over his key accounts in the south.
A new Sales Manager, Nicola Bullivant, has also been appointed, taking over from Tim Messinger who has left to develop his own events management business.
Jonny Gallant, MD, Alban Books
MY THANKS to Alban Books‘ new Managing Director, Jonny Gallant, for his prompt response to my invitation to introduce himself in his new role. Jonny writes:
IT WAS WITH SOME TREPIDATION that I accepted Phil’s kind offer of writing a short guest piece for the UKCBD blog by way of introducing myself as the new Managing Director for Alban Books. Should I attempt to write some short biography, lightening the dullness of it with references to my passion for cricket or my increasingly worrying addiction to diet coke? No – it would still be boring and a bit too self-centred. Should I write some sort of ‘State of the Trade’ mission statement? No – I’m desperately under-qualified. Should I write about all the great things that Alban does and I hope will do in the coming years? No – too much like marketing.
Perhaps I can work all those aspects together into a form that Phil will be happy to put up on this esteemed trade mouthpiece. Here’s a shot:
About seven or eight years ago, at the dawn of my career in publishing, I joked with a friend at Canongate that digital books were undoubtedly coming, but hopefully we’d both be retired before it happened. On reflection, that seems spectacularly naïve, but I think that may have been how 90% of people in publishing felt at the time: “Let’s keep our heads down and get on with these lovely blocks of paper and ink and hopefully it will all be OK”.
When I moved down to London and ended up working for Alma Books, the whole company’s philosophy was (and remains) rooted to the idea of the “book as an aesthetic artefact”. I was happy to exploit all the digital world had to offer in terms of marketing and promotion, but an eBook still felt like a very distant prospect.
I returned to Edinburgh to take my first job in Christian publishing at Saint Andrew Press and found that Christian publishing brought with it a whole new range of challenges beyond the impending ‘Digital Armageddon’. It’s been an extremely turbulent few years in the trade since I started at Saint Andrew Press – the SPCK/Brewer Brothers debacle, the demise of Borders, Waterstones’ Hub, STL and Wesley Owen, the list goes on… My final year at Saint Andrew Press proved to be a turbulent one too and I’m glad that Saint Andrew Press’ future now seems more secure at Hymns Ancient & Modern and they have some brilliant books coming out this year.
When my predecessor, Wendy Rimmington, was offered a job she couldn’t refuse at Nelson Thornes, I was fortunate enough to be chosen to take up the helm at Alban. I’ve now been here for three weeks and am greatly impressed by the excellent team that has been built in the course of Alban’s 16-year history. Their diligence and commitment to a list of some six-thousand titles and our thousands of trade and direct customers is our greatest asset. We will have to tackle the great challenges faced by the book industry as a whole – some harder than others – but the opportunities are even greater… But you know all this already. With our fantastic range of publishers, Abingdon Press, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, Ave Maria Press, Eerdmans, Hendrickson Publishers and Orbis Books, I’m really looking forward to working with my colleagues to steer a clear path through Alban’s exciting future.
Jonny Gallant
Managing Director
Alban Books Ltd
Edinburgh
Personally I’m hoping that Jonny can be persuaded to say a little more about the ‘Digital Armageddon’ and how Alban Books in particular are dealing with it: the end may not have been nigh last weekend despite all the hype from the USA’s prophets of doom, but unless the Christian book trade begins to get to grips with this particular publishing revolution, I suspect the end may well be nigh for even more bookshops — perhaps some publishers too — before too much more time passes…
What topics would like to see Jonny exploring further if we can persuade him, and what questions would you like to put to him in his new role?
MY APOLOGIES for the lack of news postings here over the last few weeks: life, as they say. As always, however, there’s been plenty happening in the trade — and plenty more coming up — so I’m pleased to be able to present a mix of stories old, new and forthcoming. Don’t forget to give me a shout anytime you have news to share: here, on facebook or via twitter…
In Brief…
The Christian Book Centre, Redruth, is seeking new owners as the current owners prepare for retirement. The shop won the CBC ‘Small Bookshop of the Year’ Award 2008.
The Good News Centre, Newent, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, has an attractive new website up and running, designed by Nigel Steele at Quoakle: goodnewscentre.com
Macclesfield’s new Christian resource centre, The Hope Centre, is now open: congratulations to all involved.
Pilgrim’s Progress Bookshop, Hereford, are hosting a book signing with local author Donald Southey for his new novel I Messiah on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th May 2011, 12 noon – 1.30pm both days. Free tea and coffee will be served!
St Mark’s Press have moved their distribution back to Fairway Marketing from STL/Trust Media Distribution, with immediate effect.
St Paul’s Bookshops (Birmingham, Leeds, London and York) have entered the blogosphere: follow them at stpaulsbookshop.blogspot.com
STL UK are now trading under their new identity, Trust Media Distribution. Old email and website addresses will continue to work, but now’s the time to get up to speed if you haven’t already done so. On twitter @TrustMediaDist
Former Waterstone’s Boss Dominic Myers has woken up to reality at last and acknowledged the need for joined-up thinking in the book trade: “We’re all in this together,” he says. Welcome to Farewell from the world of independent bookselling, Dominic…
10 Years of The Good Bookstall: Celebrations at CRE
MY PERSONAL THANKS AND CONGRATULATIONS to Mary Bartholomew and the rest of the team at The Good Bookstall for their generous hospitality at CRE last week: it was an honour and a privilege to be able to share in their 10th anniversary celebrations, as well as to meet so many other friends and colleagues from the trade during the course of the day.
Mary Bartholomew with the Good Bookstall's 10th Anniversary Cake
For a few more photos featuring some of the booksellers and publishers present see my CRE 2011 facebook photo album:
Facebook Photo Album: CRE 2011
Bob Hartman Story in New World Record Storytelling Attempt
The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book
DO YOU ENJOY STORYTELLING? Then make your way to the Peace in the Park Festival at The Ponderosa in Sheffield on 4th June where Self Help Africa are planning to set a new world record for the most adults reading aloud to children at a single location. The chosen story, Tortoise Brings Food, is an African tale retold by Bob Hartman in the The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book.
Bob says:
I’ve been telling stories professionally for over twenty years, and I am always amazed by the power of a story well told to capture and entertain and delight. Sharing stories with children is an opportunity to cement a relationship and shape a life. I’m so pleased to be involved in a project that encourages parents to read to their children, and at the same time, contributes to the needs of parents and children in Africa. Let’s break the record and make a change in the world!
Storytelling starts at 3pm, with Guinness World Records adjudicators present. More details and a pdf practice sheet of the story available from Lion Hudson: Lion Children’s Books in world record storytelling attempt!
Facebook Update (Updated 21/05/2011)
IT’S ALL HAPPENING on facebook with FM Ballymena and Manna Christian Centre, Streatham, setting up new pages — don’t be shy now, click on through and hit those Like buttons: you know you want to … and you never know, they might even like your pages in return.
Meanwhile, if you happen to be up north or are passing through Edinburgh at lunchtime on 23rd May, St Andrew Press would love to see you at their General Assembly Event celebrating their new life as part of the Hymns Ancient & Modern family:
Saint Andrew Press, the publishing house of the Church of Scotland, will be holding a special General Assembly event to celebrate its new life working as a part of Hymns Ancient & Modern. Come along and enjoy lunch, hear about the many resources available, meet staff and friends of Saint Andrew Press and collect vouchers for limited numbers of free copies of Leith Fisher’s fantastic But I Say To You!
RSVP to Michael Addison: full details on the event page…
Living Oasis Edinburgh Still Trading Closing Down (Updated 7.45pm, 20/05/2011)
Living Oasis Store Finder CRE 2011
DESPITE AN APPARENT GOOF-UP by the company’s publicity department, which somehow omitted the Edinburgh branch from flyers (pictured) and School Catalogues given out to punters at CRE last week, I’m reliably informed that Living Oasis Edinburgh, the company’s sole-surviving store north of the border, is still in business.
UPDATE 7.45pm, 20/05/2011: In an announcement posted on facebook this evening, Living Oasis Edinburgh have indicated that they will cease trading on 4th June 2011.
Elsewhere, unfortunately, things are also looking less than hunky-dory with still no news of opening dates for the all-new bright-and-shiny Leeds and Liverpool stores. Independent sources indicate that a number of suppliers have learnt the hard way and, fingers burnt by non-payment of bills, have had to withdraw credit facilities, leaving staff in some shops struggling to meet customer requests: please continue to pray for everyone caught up in what seems to be a crippling downhill spiral.
To end on a more positive note, however, the company did manage to put on an impressive stand at CRE offering free coffee for anyone spending £5 or over: congratulations to all concerned.
New MD for Alban Books
WENDY RIMMINGTON, who was appointed as MD for Alban Books in November last year, has moved on, making way for new MD Jonny Gallant, formerly of Saint Andrew Press. Commenting on his appointment in a brief press release (pdf, 41kb), Jonny said:
Alban Books is a very exciting company, working with a terrific range of US publishers and I’m really looking forward to putting my sales and marketing background to use in facing the opportunities and challenges ahead.
I’ve invited Jonny to contribute a guest post to tell us more: watch this space…
Norwich Christian Resource Centre Enters Nominations for Telegraph Book Club Tour
CONGRATULATIONS to Norwich Christian Resource Centre, one of several Christian bookshops that have entered nominations for the Daily Telegraph/National Book Tokens Book Club Tour. In the section explaining why the shop should be chosen to host a Book Club Tour event, they say:
We hold book signings and author discussion evenings on a monthly basis usually complimented by a two course meal with wine/coffee in our 44 seater cafe.
The events are not always faith based and we have local historian and author Neil Storey talking about the history of Norwich in September.
Sadly we were just unable to attract PD James last Christmas as she felt she was now too old to travel. A monthly book club has met for the past 11 years reading authors as diverse as Delia Smith to Kate Atkinson. I would ideally like to attract Sally Vickers.
Other Christian bookshops nominated include:
Nominations are still open: head on over there today if you’d like to submit your own nomination…
Wildcard: Sainsbury’s Wins Bookseller of the Year Award
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Congratulations to Sainsbury’s on winning The Bookseller‘s “Martina Cole General or Chain Bookselling Company of the Year Award”:
Sainsbury’s was honoured with the Martina Cole General or Chain Bookselling Company of the Year Award after reinvigorating book zones, increasing book sales by more than 33% and attracting new book buyers to the market. One judge said: “We should celebrate the fact that they are embracing books and offering people an alternative place to buy—somewhere they can spend time browsing as well as buying.”
Full story: Quercus publisher of the year at The Bookseller Industry Awards
Whether or not Sainsbury’s genuinely qualifies as a bookseller is a hotly contested issue in the report’s comments section: well worth reading. From my point of view there’s a certain irony here: having moved to Sainsbury’s following LST’s redundancy proceedings last year, I now find myself working for the nation’s leading bookseller — and I haven’t had to restock a single book in my entire time there…
Crusaders: Celebrating the 100: Letter from Mrs Ali Tompkins
ARE YOU, OR HAVE YOU BEEN, involved with the Crusaders? If so, this is your opportunity to tell your story by contributing to a forthcoming book, Celebrating the 100. Mrs Ali Tompkins, one of the Trustees for Urban Saints (as Crusaders is now known), writes:
In 2006, Crusaders celebrated their 100th year of reaching young people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. As part of those celebrations, the suggestion was made that a book of memories should be compiled, pulling together memories of Crusaders young and old. Now, 5 years on, editing of those memories is continuing and further contributions are being sought.
Have you been involved in the organisation at some stage in your life? Would you be willing to share your memories of your time within Crusaders and maybe the impact that Crusaders has had on your life? Were you an ADW or Timothy within Crusaders? Do you have great memories of holidays (at Studland, Westbrook or other venues around the UK)? Did you experience a life changing time on CRUSOE? Are your memories around the fellowship with other young people or the riotous fun through games, days out or regional and national competitions? Was it the key Bible teaching that impacted you or simply the friendships that were made through Crusaders? Whatever it is, I would be delighted to share your experiences within the context of the book.
Contributions should be 500 words max with a photograph if possible. Copy deadline: Thursday 28th July 2011, publication planned in time for Christmas this year. For further details, download Ali’s letter (pdf, 135kb) or visit the Urban Saints Centenary Book of Memories page.
The 2011 TIME 100: Rob Bell
LOVE HIM OR HATE HIM, there’s no disputing Rob Bell’s growing influence as a spokesperson for a more open Christianity, a Christianity that sees open doors and opportunities in place of the obstacles and obnoxiousness that seems to pervade much of western Christianity. With the likes of John Piper and Mark Driscoll dismissing and/or condemning Bell as a heretic, you could be forgiven for thinking that he’s come up with something new or that he’s been expressing views that run counter to the gospel when in fact the only crime he’s committed is to challenge the status quo by asking questions and offering hope to the disenfranchised. Bell is no Messiah, of course, but the attitudes displayed towards him by many Christians, conservative evangelicals in particular, do seem to echo the attitudes of the religious leaders towards Jesus way back when, when he dared to suggest that prostitutes and tax collectors would enter the Kingdom of Heaven before they did.
But if it’s the question of whether or not Bell is a universalist that’s vexing you, look no further than his profile page in TIME Magazine’s Top 100:
Bell argues for mystery, not certitude. “In the book, I write about how some have believed that all will be reconciled,” he told TIME, “and while I long for that as I think everybody should long for it, I don’t take a position of certainty because, of course, I don’t know how it all turns out.”
Love Wins - also available from your local Christian bookshop...
Makes sense to me: Love Wins — that’s the ultimate message of Easter; but whatever the level of Bell’s popularity, there seems to be no hope in hell for that increasingly rare breed, bricks & mortar booksellers, to benefit from sales whilst the likes of Amazon (current offer £8.07) and the Book Depository (current offer £8.06) continue their battle to outdo one another on the price reduction stakes. One can only wonder at what’s going on in the ZonderCollins supply chain to enable such ludicrous discounts — somehow I think it has little to do with an altruistic desire to help spread Bell’s message…
Responses and reactions to the book continue unabated: two of the simplest ways to keep track are via the #lovewins twitter stream or The #lovewins Daily, autogenerated from the twitter stream.
Of particular note:
Living Oasis Watford: Official Reopening with the Mayor at 2pm, Sat 7th May 2011
THIS SATURDAY, 7th May, is expected to see hopes and dreams for Living Oasis Watford fulfilled as the store reopens at its new location at 15-17 The Parade, Watford, next door to Presence. The opening takes place at 2pm, presided over by Mayor of Watford Dorothy Thornhill, who was also there for the original opening last year when Living Oasis took over the former Wesley Owen premises.
Hearty congratulations to all involved!
From the Christian Gateway Watford news page:
New Living Oasis Watford shop – official opening Saturday 7th May, 2pm
Living Oasis is delighted to announce the opening of its new Watford Christian resources centre, which will be located at 15-17 The Parade on the High Street (two doors up from T J Hughes).
The new store is spread over two floors, and we hope will play a significant part in helping resource and equip Watford’s Christian community to boldly share Gospel Truth in a high-quality context that connects with life in today’s world. The large shop will carry an impressive 7,000 product lines including a vibrant children’s section, a large selection of Bibles and practical theology titles…
