Curious to know more, I checked out her website where I found, to my delight, an excerpt — and loved it. Hopefully, you will too — and you might even find your customers like it as well, but there’s only one way to find out about that…
I invited Fiona to tell us all about it. She writes:
David and the Hairy Beast claws its way to market
When we read of bookshop chains shutting down, publishing contracts becoming scarcer than a footballer without a super injunction and the bogey man of the e-book market changing the way we consume books, then you would be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at a new company launching its pilot title – in hard copy. Add to that the fact that the pilot is ‘self-published’ and the more business savvy among you may well be tutting in disdain. And yet, that’s what Crafty Publishing is doing. My husband Rod and I felt called to start Crafty Publishing using some of the redundancy money he received after being ‘released’ from the NHS. Our vision is to test out the market and distribution chains with a series of children’s picture books that I’ve written and then, if all goes well, start taking on other titles.
But we’re not going into this blindly. I am not a wannabe author who is so desperate to see her name in print that I’d sell the family silver to see it happen. I am already published and produced in a variety of genre including theatre, film and books. I’m currently working on a non-fiction book contract with Lion Hudson and a devotional booklet contract with CWR as well as continuing to work on a series of ghost-written children’s books for the secular market. In addition, I have worked as a freelance editor for Tafelberg Publishing in South Africa as well as for a number of magazines (in the UK and SA).
So why am I publishing my own work? I got a taste for the business side of self-publishing about eight years ago. My first book, Donovon’s Rainbow, was published in South Africa by Vineyard International Publishing (who have subsequently discontinued their children’s line). The book was not distributed beyond Vineyard bookshops in the UK, so when I moved back here in 2002 I asked permission from the publisher to distribute it. Effectively then I took on the job of a self-publisher. I entered the book for the Writers’ News best self-published / independently published children’s book of the year award in 2002 and won. The award gave me confidence to tackle the market and I was able to distribute the book to around 20 bookshops in the UK (secular and Christian).
It was a steep curve and I quickly had to learn about things like wholesale discounts the pros and cons of sale or return, the horrors of cold calling and the shaky financial footing of independent booksellers. I also realised that the title I was trying to sell did not fit easily into existing age categories and that the cover made it look as if it was for a younger readership than it actually was. Despite that, the book went into profit, but we would not do it the same way again.
So when my husband and I decided to launch our own title this year, we had some background to draw on. In addition, since 2002, the internet has become a much more effective marketing tool and as he is a professional software developer, he has been able to tackle that side of things.
But it’s still a scary world out there for a new publisher, not least when dealing with some bookshop managers who consider any ‘retelling’ of a bible story with the same abhorrence they normally reserve for Satan (or Rob Bell). However, there are some great folk too and in the month since the title’s been launched, five bookshops have agreed to stock us and our online sales are ticking over very nicely.
David and the Hairy Beast
Our pilot title is called David and the Hairy Beast (retailing at £5.99) and is the first in a series of six books about the childhood of King David. The illustrations are by my design partner, Amy Barnes. We’re working on the next book, David and the Kingmaker, now. It will be ready for distribution in October, in time for the Christmas market. We’ll see how sales go in the New Year before launching the third in the series David and the Giant.
Cross-posted from SPCK/SSG News, Notes & Info. Matt Wardman reports, and concludes with a number of questions about some of the loose ends left hanging in this long-running saga — to which I’ve added another and to which you, gentle reader, may wish to add your own, either in the comments here or on the original post…
This news is very much of the ‘we were tipped into a swamp and lost nearly everything, but we escaped the alligators with our lives after each losing half a leg’ variety, but the staff at Durham Cathedral Shop have — 4 years after the saga to which SPCK/SSG News, Notes & Info is devoted kicked off —received some more good news. It has been ruled that when the staff of the Durham Cathedral Shop were thrown out of their jobs in January 2010, it constituted redundancy and unfair dismissal.
I should also say that this decision was by a previous shop management, and the shop — and particularly the staff — deserve full support.
Employment Tribunal Report
An Employment Tribunal held on Wednesday 24th August 2011 in Newcastle, and this is a report of the proceedings.
“A sorry tale which has been going on for some time has now come to this.”
The opening comment by Mr Jim Shepherd, Employment Judge, at the Employment Tribunal held on Wednesday 24th August 2011 in Newcastle, between the claimants, the staff of the Durham Cathedral Shop, and the Durham Cathedral Shop Management Company and the Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills.
The start of the tale was on 22nd January 2010, when the staff of the Durham Cathedral Shop were all dismissed. The shop was one of the 23 SPCK Bookshops taken over in 2006 by the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust run by American brothers, Mark and Phil Brewer. In 2008 the Durham shop’s management transferred to the Durham Cathedral Shop Management Company, a new company set up by the Brewer brothers. By January 2010 Durham was the only shop remaining under their control, and was a poor shadow of the flagship shop it had been in SPCK days. Phil Brewer contacted the staff and said the company had financial difficulties and he needed to talk to the Cathedral Chapter. On 22nd January 2010 the staff were summoned by the Chapter Clerk, following his discussion with Phil Brewer, and were told the shop was to close immediately. The staff received no written notice of dismissal, were not consulted in accordance with UK employment law and did not receive wages due to them, severance payment nor redundancy payment.
The staff were represented by Sara Devennie, of Beecham & Peacock, Newcastle solicitors, who were instructed by the trade union USDAW, of which all the staff are members. Beecham & Peacock received no fee for this work as part of their on-going commitment to a number of trade unions to fight for the rights of workers.
The Tribunal were presented with the detailed and complicated facts of the case, and ruled that it was unfair dismissal and redundancy. The Secretary of State’s office had investigated the solvency of the Durham Cathedral Shop Management Company and stated it was not insolvent and was still registered as a company, with the registered trading address as the Durham Cathedral Shop. However, the Tribunal Judge stated he felt it unlikely that any money would be forthcoming from the USA.
By ruling that redundancy had occurred, the Judge legalised the claim for state redundancy payments to be made by the Secretary of State. Payments of between £2,000 and £11,000 were awarded to the staff.
The Durham Cathedral Shop, under the management of Durham Cathedral, re-opened on 1st March 2010, and all of the former staff have been re-employed by Durham Cathedral.
That is excellent news, and congratulations go especially to the one member of staff who persevered with the claim. Perhaps ways can now finally be found to look forward at Durham.
Remaining Questions
There are still some very serious questions around the whole SPCK saga, which I hope will be addressed somehow.
The Brewers still deserve to be brought to book for offences committed throughout the last several years. These include the magically vanishing funds from Durham Cathedral Shop mentioned above.
But there is also the small matter of money specifically given for the support of Christian Bookselling in Newcastle, and placed in a separate fund after the sale of the Bible House Bookshop, which seems to have been misappropriated during the time of Management by the Brewer Brothers. Specifically, monies were allocated for improvements to the premises of SPCK Newcastle which – as far as we are aware – were never done. The sum involved was 5 figures.
Questions around the Governance of SPCK itself, and decisions made.
And the whole question of who is going to learn which lessons from this whole Godawful Mess, and whether they actually have been learned?
Stand Up SPCK Up
To Matt’s questions I would add: what of the Durham Cathedral and Chapter’s culpability and liability? Collusion with the Brewers in continuing to allow them to trade, failure to evict them, and — by far the worst blot in their copybook — an abysmal failure in their duty of care towards workers on their premises…
On the celebrations front, this is this blog’s 500th post, so a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the project’s development and success over the past few years: rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who mourn, and praying constantly along the way.
Guest posts are always welcome, from authors, booksellers, publishers, suppliers and other commentators: please contact me if you’d like to contribute…
CONGRATULATIONS to Melanie and her minions at Unicorn Tree Books, Lincoln, on their 5th birthday this week: on Tuesday, August 16th, to be precise. Melanie writes:
Today is our 5th Birthday, we’ve seen an awful lot of change in those five years not only in Unicorn Tree Books (& Crafts) but in the economy, in the market and in the booktrade and we are happy to say we are still here and smiling widely!
We’ve drunk a lot of Caramel Latte’s [sic], shifted a lot of units, re-arranged how many times and seen our minions fledge and go off to found their own businesses – this bookshop boss thinks that’s one heck of an achievement and to celebrate is having a venti caramel latte today!
However I know we wouldn’t be here still today if it wasn’t for all you lovely customers and I want to say the biggest and most heartfelt THANK YOU! to all of you.
You make each day different, fun and, hey, maybe even a little more crazy than it would be even with the bookshop boss in attendance anyway – so thank you.
Read on to find out how they’re celebrating: the word ‘discount’ may tempt you…
Update, 22/08/2011: For more info on the post-NCT situation, see this statement by the Revd Phil Jump, Chair of the Living Oasis Liverpool Steering Committee, posted on facebook, 12/08/2011: Living Oasis Liverpool UPDATE
After NCT: Living Oasis Liverpool press on with the vision
Many of you may have heard that in August 2011, Nationwide Christian Trust, the originators of the Living Oasis vision, were placed into liquidation. This is sad news and will be a particular disappointment to those who worked so hard to develop a national chain of Living Oasis stores.
The Liverpool store has always enjoyed a strong local support base, and has an effective local management team in place. NCT have done everything they can to enable the local team to take over sole responsibility for the store, and we are currently engaged in a number of conversations and negotiations to allow that to happen.
While there is much to be done, we remain confident that if we can retain the existing premises, the eventual opening of the store remains a very realistic possibility. Sadly there will be inevitable delays, as we cannot proceed further with the physical outfit until various legalities are completed.
We will continue to work hard to develop the Liverpool store as an independant [sic] coffee house, bookstore and centre for Christian life and mission.
Living Oasis Liverpool on facebook: Page | Profile
At the time of writing no further news about the insolvency or the status of the remaining stores (Harrogate and Watford) appears to have been released. The official Living Oasis Locations map and page are now blank, simply showing ‘No records found’, although the latest video, featuring Andy Twilley at the Watford store, is still available on youtube:
Introducing Life: Weston-super-Mare’s new Christian Bookshop
A WARM AND HEARTFELT UKCBD WELCOME to Life, Weston-super-Mare’s new Christian bookshop, which opened this week on the site of the former Living Oasis and Wesley Owen bookshops:
“Life” is the name of Weston’s new independent Christian bookshop, it is based at 13 The Centre where Living Oasis and Wesley Owen were located previously.
Here at “Life” we will aim to be more than a book shop. Yes we will be selling books, cards and gifts, as well as daily Bible reading notes etc. But this is not our sole purpose.
We would like “Life” to be a place in town where Christians can meet each other over a cup of tea or coffee for prayer, study groups or discussion.
“Life” provides a haven where Christians involved in the many and varied activities which make up church life can find encouragement and build one another up.
We want Christians to be able to meet one another and share their ideas, dreams and visions for their area, town and life, on common ground; because we believe that everyone has something to offer in the body of Christ. If we can get together on any and all levels and share what works and what doesn’t, encouraging each other, just imagine what could happen in our churches, our town, our nation…
Update, 07/10/2011: With regret, I am no longer able to commend either of Helen’s groups to readers of this blog. The links have therefore been removed. For more information about this matter, please contact me and I’ll be happy to explain privately.
HELEN McCABE has launched a new facebook group, Christian Bookshops UK, as a follow on to conversations held at this year’s Christian Resources Together. Helen explains:
I created the group after going to CRT earlier in the year as a few things become obvious to me:
Some people have some really good ideas on how to promote their bookshop in their local community which bookshops could take advantage of.
Using social media tools like FB can be great for getting involved in the community but some people just need a bit of help with how to use it.
I’m very keen on supporting our local Christian bookshops and I would like to give some general marketing help on how businesses can grow their bookshop locally in addition to some guidance on using tools like FB.
Helen also runs another group, Facebook Church UK, and says she’s happy for bookshops to share local news there as well, “as long as it doesn’t become a sales group.”
Sales down at Beacon Books, Llandudno
Wales Online 15/08/2011 - 'exceptionally difficult times'
At Kingdom Crafts [sic], manager Marian Whitaker says the store has been down £200 per week since the start of 2011.
Over the summer the position has worsened with the fair trade goods store and Christian bookshop seeing its takings plummet by £400 per week on last year.
Mrs Whitaker, whose store is on Madoc Street, which runs parallel to Llandudno’s high street, said trading conditions at the shop have been almost as challenging as at any point since it opened 10 years ago.
Mrs Whitaker said: “I think people cannot afford to come on holiday in the way that they did. And I think local people are shopping more online because they can get things cheaper.”
Eastbourne Herald, 15/08/2011: 'Things are looking up'
IN SHARP CONTRAST to the situation faced by retailers in Wales, the Eastbourne Herald features Bob Clark, who took over at Eastbourne’s Christian Resource Centreearlier this year, describing better sales than ever:
Pause for Thought with Ray Dadswell: Things are looking up
Published on Monday 15 August 2011 11:03
When so many businesses, large and small, are closing their doors, it is good to know of a local bookshop celebrating success.
Bob Clark took over management of the Eastbourne Christian Resource Centre at the beginning of 2011 and records many encouragements over the past few months.
“A particular highlight is that Bible sales are increasing dramatically, now that we have a wider choice. The same is happening with commentaries, dictionaries and concordances, all of which have been brought to the ground floor. Bible notes, too, are growing in sales, as we have a wider range and easier-view display.”
There are areas of the ministry which Bob is keen to improve.
“Communication with our ministers and pastors; our service to churches in other towns, for example, Hastings and St Leonards, Bexhill, Seaford; and the availability of ‘collectable and hard-to-find’ books, located on the first floor, which is a real treasure trove!”
LAST BUT FAR FROM LEAST, please pray for members of staff at a number of Wesley Owen bookshops who are facing redundancy as Koorong (which took over the Wesley Owen brand and eight stores in the wake of Biblica’s bungling in 2009) streamlines its UK business operations and seeks to maintain a viable business model following the implementation of new systems and central purchasing.
Steve Mitchell, Retail Director, and himself a survivor of the Biblica fallout, explains:
There are 6 people being made redundant. All of them are still working, but will leave over the next few weeks and months. Even though this is a horrible process, I am completely committed to doing this with integrity, I have met with all the staff in the shops affected, explaining what we are doing and why.
Our new systems are now fully in place and working well, so the roles and requirements for our staff teams are changing. We have implemented central purchasing so new people have joined in Milton Keynes to support Authentic & Wesley Owen, so we have been moving our staff from admin to customer service, so these changes are about aligning staff rotas with customers.
The High Street is still a very tough place to be, and whilst we are seeing good sales growth in a difficult time, we also have to have a viable business model.
We asked the shops for their input, and asked them to create the new staff rotas rather than impose it. I have met one on one with each member of staff who is going, and in fact I’m travelling this week to a branch with 2 people leaving expressly to thank them for all their hard work, and ensure they leave at least feeling respected.
Inevitably there will be unhappy people who will want to vent their feelings, that’s understandable, and I feel it’s right that I hear their voice.
MORE THAN TEN CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOPS are now live with Hive, the initiative launched by mainstream wholesaler Gardners (discussed here earlier this year) to help bridge the gap between the online and the bricks & mortar shopping experience:
The Hive Network is a radical new concept bringing the benefits of local high street retailing to the ease and pleasure of buying your books and DVDs on the internet.
Whilst everyone enjoys supporting the local bookshops that enrich our environment and bring variety and personality into our high streets, the convenience, range and 24-hour access of shopping online is an activity that many of us enjoy and take great pleasure in. Yet, having goods delivered when we may not be around to receive them does sometimes have its drawbacks… and let’s face it; the high street wouldn’t be as exciting or as colourful without your local independent bookshops.
That’s where the Hive Network comes to the rescue!
For booksellers, the service offers a customisable homepage and a fully functional online shop serviced through their Gardners account, with customer orders and stock orders consolidated into single deliveries, reducing carbon footprint. Customers benefit from the convenience of online shopping with free delivery to the bookshop of their choice for collection at a time that suits them, free home delivery for orders over £15, or 75p for home delivery on smaller orders. The project claims to be “the future of high street shopping on the internet… and internet shopping on your high street!” — the only thing that’s needed to change that from wishful thinking to reality, gentle reader, is you and me; and remember that it’s not just Christian books you can order from your chosen hive-linked bookshop: Gardners’ full range of fiction and non-fiction, including ebooks, is available!
The Christian retailers I’m aware of that have signed up so far are listed below: click through to visit their hive shops. If none of them are in your area, you can use the store locator to find your nearest participating shop; and if your local Christian bookshop isn’t there, why not pop in and encourage them to sign up?
Some have customised their homepages — the best examples I’ve seen so far are GLO and Unicorn Tree Books (UTB) — whilst others have yet to take advantage of this option, which leaves them particularly vulnerable to the potential for embarrassment that fuelled our earlier discussions. If you’re a bookseller reading this who hasn’t customised your home page, I’d encourage you to take a look the GLO and UTB pages to see how it can be done — then go and do likewise!
Customised Hive Home Page for Unicorn Tree Books & Crafts
London: CLC are relocating in central London, from Holborn Viaduct to Ave Maria Lane (photos below), just a stone’s throw from St Paul’s Cathedral. The Holborn Viaduct lease still has some time to run so they are currently trading from both locations, with the Holborn store focusing on remainders and Book Aid:
CLC Bookshop
3-4 Ave Maria Lane (nr Ludgate Hill)
LONDON EC4M 7AQ
020 7248 2356
Opening times: Mon – Weds, Fri & Sat, 10.00am – 5.30pm; Thurs, 10.00am – 7.30pm
From the little I know about them, commercial leases are a pain to negotiate, a pain to sign off and a pain when they end. The middle bit isn’t always a smooth ride either. The economic downturn had converted the area around us into a wasteland on Holborn Viaduct, right in the City, and had accelerated the decline in our sales. Many have lost their jobs, firms have relocated or downsized and there just wasn’t the footfall past our shop that there used to be. So, what to do when our 20 year lease would expire in June 2012? After much prayer and heart-searching, the CLC Trustees had to decide: take out a new lease in the same location if we were offered it, find an alternative location in central London or move out to the suburbs…? In the end it was decided that we should do everything we could to retain our ministry in central London and secure premises now rather than wait longer and suffer the uncertainty of trying to find somewhere suitable. Yes, we are still covering costs on Holborn Viaduct, thank the Lord, but knowing there is so much potential out there and you’re not reaching it is demoralising over time. So, in faith the Trustees decided we should go for it, take the plunge and trust the Lord for sufficient sales in both locations to cover our costs.
Until such time as our lease expires or we are released from it by the landlord (please, Lord), we have two shops in central London. A sort of CLC Inverness situation where we continue with two leases (think back to March) but on a bigger scale…
After a frantic scramble, long hours by our very committed staff and volunteers and countless hitches (not all of our making) the stores opened to the public on Tuesday 9th August. Our Holborn Viaduct store was closed for just two days while the stock was moved and then displayed; from its ground floor we are now selling remainders and Book Aid materials. We were already selling Book Aid’s secondhand books on the lower-ground floor; they now have more space upstairs at ground level and in return provide someone every day to work in the shop. Existing shop staff provide the additional cover. The shop opens Monday to Friday only. Saturday long ago ceased being a busy day, which is amazing when you consider it used to be our busiest day of the week! Our valued customers, besides finding some bargains, are directed to the new location and this is less than a ten-minute walk away. Our prayer is that they will all make that journey, and use both stores!
For the third time in our history we are very near St Paul’s Cathedral. In fact, we are within 250 metres of the steps. It is already thrilling to see the difference in footfall, praise the Lord. We are just off Ludgate Hill in a short street called Ave Maria Lane and which becomes Warwick Lane (just next to Paternoster Square and Amen Corner!!!).
At the time of writing there are still some jobs unfinished. There have been complications with phone lines, computers… you name it. And there’s no shop sign yet. Those who know the Holborn Viaduct store won’t be surprised at this; we were not allowed to have a very visible sign there at all, which didn’t help things very much. But we have already made a good many people happy (those who work nearby particularly) and we look forward to welcoming customers old and new into our much smaller (but no less expensive) bookshop and providing them with the items they need. Likewise we hope to meet the spiritual needs of the tourists who abound in the area, both through sales and engaging with them in conversation as and when possible.
Manager Petra Nemansky says,
It is really great to see customers finding us already in the first few days, both “old” ones and also some new ones who are absolutely delighted that we are there for them. There is a huge amount of work ahead of us still but a very BIG thanks is due to all who have worked to make it possible thus far! That includes those behind the scenes in prayer – we really appreciate it!
CLC London: New premises at Ave Maria Lane (outside)
CLC London: New premises at Ave Maria Lane (inside)
Leicester: CLC Leicester is preparing to relocate from Belvoir Street to the former SPCK premises on Bishop Street, vacated earlier this year when Christian Resources Leicester moved to St Martin’s House in the Cathedral Square. More details to follow…
Farewell to Fools
Saddened to report another Christian bookshop closure: Fools, Upminster, has ceased trading:
Fools has now ceased trading...
BRF Job Vacancy: Guidelines Commissioning Editor
Jobs at BRF and Eden
BRF are looking for a new commissioning editor for Guidelines, one of their range of daily devotionals. Could it be you? Closing date for applications, August 26th: full details.
Eden have a range of vacancies available, from Development Managers for specific departments (Children’s, Music & DVD, Bible & Bible Study and Christian Life) through Online Copywriters to Web Designers, with more opportunities coming up over the next year or so.
“Timing,” explains Gareth Mulholland, Eden’s founder and MD, “is not set in stone as we’d rather have the right person onboard” — but if you think your face might fit, the sooner you contact him, the better: full details.
Roger Compton leaves TMD
Regular readers will have noted Andrew Jenkins’ indignant comments (Feedback, August 4, 2011) about Roger Compton’s recent departure from TMD in the latest round of redundancies. I invited TMD to clarify the situation. Pete Barnsley, TMD’s Marketing Director, explains:
Roger is a great guy and has worked for the organization for 12 years, initially working in Wesley Owen Wigmore Street before joining the sales team when an opportunity arose. He is well respected and liked both within the Company and amongst customers.
However the economic realities we are facing are impacting TM Distribution in much the same way as many others in our trade and we have had to make painful decision to secure the future of the organization. Job losses far from being a knee jerk reaction are only contemplated once other options have been tried (for example, attempts to increase sales through promotions and looking at other forms of cost saving).
The personal cost to the individual is not taken lightly. We have lost a number of posts across the company from folk working in the warehouse to senior managers, all areas have been affected.
We understand that Roger’s role is high profile in the trade and attracts a lot of attention, but in terms of why Roger; it is more to do with the location of the individuals within the sales team. If we have to cutback, and lose someone from the sales team then the territory where we could make adjustments and protect the service level to customer was Roger’s current territory. It is anticipated that tele-sales initiatives will be launched to complement visits from the Trust Media Sales Team on a less frequent basis within this territory. It is our intention to improve the frequency of contact and level of service to accounts as a consequence.
Roger has acted with understanding and dignity, as you would expect in the entire process and I really want to reiterate as we have been at pains to point out to all individuals affected, that these actions have been taken to secure the long term financial viability of the Company and should not be construed as a reflection on the contributions of any of those affected. We will miss Roger.
Roger Compton, you’re a rock: I salute you and take this opportunity to thank you for all your encouragement and support during my tenure as LST’s Bookshop Manager. May the Lord bless you, strengthen you, and make his way for you clear during these difficult times.
Social Media Update
Social media: it’s about much more than inciting teenagers to riot, and a few new kids have joined us on the block over the last month or so. Catch up with them here:
SPCK are twittering @SPCKPublishing: tweets by their new Publicist, Holly Thompson, who I’m reliably informed is on standby to welcome us, answer queries and direct us to reviews, articles and author media, as well as entertain us with “her appalling Friday jokes(!)” — follow at your own risk!
Shout out in the comments if you’re twitbooking and haven’t received a mention…
Special Offers around the Shops
And finally, to whet the appetites of any readers who haven’t visited their local Christian bookshop recently, a couple of special offers…
Quench are offering £1 off every Hillsong CD plus a free CD with every Hillsong purchase. The freebie is a an eight-track compilation album from all the Hillsong groups including Chapel, Kids, Live and United: pop along to your nearest Quench shop and grab one while you can!
Use them or lose them: being part of a chain is no guarantee of security for any shop in today’s economic climate; and if you, gentle reader, represent any other Christian bookshop, please feel free to post details of your latest deals in the comments here…
Listening to Liz Pilgrim, a riot-hit small retailer from Ealing on BBC R4 tonight was an inspiration, providing a strident rallying call for support to the High Street.
Events of this past week have demonstrated that the UK High Street is hurting badly – in more ways than one. Shops in riot affected areas will have an uphill struggle to get their businesses back on track. Retailers everywhere are finding it hard work to make headway against strong and adverse economic headwinds.
If these local businesses are forced to leave their High Streets, it will be very hard, if not impossible, to open them again. Does that matter? Yes, I think it does. Those communities losing local traders are negatively impacted in a considerable way. We could all do much more to help – by stopping to think whether we can buy locally, by switching our purchasing from the internet to local shops (where possible) and from chain stores and supermarkets to the local trader. Yes, there’s often a price differential and I know that we all have time constraints but there is a positive social impact.
Some of you might say that it’s already too late. It’s not. You can make a real difference locally.
So much of retail in the UK is comprised of fairly small units and these outlets provide considerable levels of local employment in so many of our towns and cities. It cannot be all about Tesco’s and Debenhams.
Use local markets wherever possible as these too continue to help commercial life to thrive in our neighbourhoods and communities. Yes, it’s hard to do this but it’s also worthwhile. At the moment, any help for smaller retailers, and sole traders in particular, is very welcome.
If you agree with this please post it elsewhere and let’s help bring more footfall to our High Streets. Do we really want to live in a homogenous world? Do we want all of retail life to move online? We all have to buy ‘stuff’. The only question is; where will we actually do our purchasing?
So go on – Support your own High Street. Support your local retailer. Support your small shops. Support your local Market. You might even enjoy yourself!
NATIONWIDE CHRISTIAN TRUST, owners of Living Oasis, the collapsed chain of Christian bookshops that took over nineteen of the former Wesley Owen shops, has now entered insolvency. Formal notice to suppliers, signed by Ray George, was issued on August 1st 2011, inviting them to submit claims and attend a first meeting of creditors to be held on Wednesday August 17th in Hornchurch, Essex:
Insolvency Notice issued by Nationwide Christian Trust 1st August 2011
Company Number: 04479539
NATIONWIDE CHRISTIAN TRUST T/A LIVING OASIS
INSOLVENCY ACT 1986
NOTICE OF THE FIRST MEETING OF CREDITORS
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to section 98 of the Insolvency Act 1986 that a meeting of the creditors of the above named Company will be held at 43-45 Butts Green Road, Hornchurch, Essex, RM11 2JX on 17 August 2011 at 11.00am for the purposes mentioned in sections 99, 100 and 101 of the said Act. Resolutions to be taken at the meeting may include a resolution specifying the terms on which the Joint Liquidators are to be remunerated and the meeting may receive information about, or be called upon to approve, the costs of preparing the statement of affairs and convening of the meeting.
The notice goes on to provide instructions to creditors on how to submit claims and advises that a full list of creditors will be available for inspection on the two business days immediately before the meeting.
RT @notbovvered: Storehouse, Watford's Christian Bookshop, is looking for a new manager: details on the Christian Gateway Watford... htt ... 2 days ago
All opinions expressed are those of the individual contributors concerned and should not be taken as representing the views of any particular group or organisation unless otherwise stated. For further clarification please see: Whose blog is this, anyway?
Terms of Use
In submitting any communications to this website or its representatives by any means whatsoever you grant an unrestricted worldwide license to cite, republish or reuse all such communications in part or in whole via any medium. You further warrant that you have the legal right to submit such communications and that you accept full liability and responsibility for their entire content and for all and any consequences arising from such citation, republishing or reuse. This overrides, supersedes and takes absolute precedence over any other copyright or confidentiality clauses unless explicitly agreed by both parties in advance. These terms will only normally be invoked in the event of a perceived threat to this site such as but not limited to attempts to serve Cease and Desist notices. Normal commenting and feedback will be treated with the respect it deserves.
