Christian Marketplace, March 2010

My thanks to Dave Walker for permission to cross-post the following from the Church Times Blog, a superb summary of reportage in this month’s Christian Marketplace. Scroll to the end for my own comments and concluding reflections.

Living Oasis: Which Shops?

Clem’s interview with Ray George also brings to light the definitive list of shops that Living Oasis have in their sights:

We now have 20 shops in our portfolio: Aberdeen, Bedford, Belfast, Cheltenham, Chester, Croydon, Edinburgh, Harrogate, Harrow, Inverness, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, South Woodford, Southampton, Sutton, Watford, Weston-Super-Mare and Worthing.

Concluding Reflections

With respect to the debts — also reported by the Bookseller, Trade creditors owed £2.5m after Wesley Owen failure — I find myself wondering how in good conscience Biblica, IBS-STL UK’s parent company, can simply walk away from this and continue their operations in the USA and elsewhere as if nothing untoward has happened? Was it not Biblica’s globalisation strategy that brought IBS-STL UK to its knees? Yet to this day Biblica’s news section has carried not a single report on the UK situation.

No doubt Biblica have acted within the letter of the law — but is this really the way a supposedly Christian organisation should conduct its affairs? Biblica sums up its core values as follows:

We believe that Biblica should be guided by biblical core values that serve as the measuring standard for the work we do, the people we serve and the mission we strive to accomplish. These values also serve as a reflection of the commitment we have to all of the standards set forth in God’s Word.

In Romans 13:8 the Scriptures that Biblica claim to affirm admonish us:

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another…

Where, O Biblica, is the love in the way we see you conducting your affairs in relation to the UK??

This is the Wesley Owen map as it stood on December 11th:

Wesley Owen Store Finder, as at 11 Dec 2009

… and as it stands today:

Wesley Owen Store Finder Today

Koorong, the new owners of the Wesley Owen brand and domain, wesleyowen.com, are, of course, quite right to update the store finder to show only their own stores, and no criticism of Koorong is either intended or implied by this post.

But what of Biblica, former owners of the 26 abandoned shops? As I write there is still no mention of this sorry episode on their current news page: it’s as if the shops — and more to the point, their staff — have been simply deleted from Biblica’s history.

With those 26 shops now in administration, I guess there is no formal or legal duty of care on Biblica’s part towards the business or employees that they have disowned. Given all that we have seen in the last few years, perhaps it is unrealistic of me to expect better from a Christian organisation … yet somehow I still find myself hoping for a little more integrity from Biblica, an indication that there is some sense of pastoral care, some sense of moral responsibility… that they will not simply turn their backs on their workers and walk away…

In the meantime, here’s where the disowned shops may be found: please continue to pray for their staff and for local church groups to catch the vision and seize the day. Click through the town name for the full address:

It feels a bit like that with STL UK. We all know that STL as we once knew it is finished. We also know that deals have been done behind closed doors: we watch and wait for a crack to appear, for a little light to shine from those doorways, for STL to live up to its name … but that was the old name, before Biblica. Strange, how these things haunt us…

We hear rumours and rumours of rumours. Buyers for Authentic, Wesley Owen, STL… or not… people get uppity: stop speculating, they say, it’s dangerous!

But the way to prevent rumours and speculation, of course, is with truth and facts, with honesty and openness. That, however, is also dangerous: it makes us vulnerable … imagine, if you can, the most powerful person in the universe … let’s say God … making himself vulnerable … daring to enter our world, to trust human beings to take care of him. No: such a thing would never work: they’d just crucify him…

No. Openness is far too dangerous. We need secrecy. We need silence.

Shush, now, baby’s sleeping…

Press Release: HarperCollins New Trade Distribution Arrangements

Bringing a longstanding exclusive distribution arrangement with STL to an end, HarperCollins have today announced new distribution arrangements to the UK Christian book trade. In a press release (pdf, 70kb) issued on Thursday, December 10, 2009, Sam Richardson, Head of Religious Publishing at HarperCollins, advised that new agreements had been reached with IVP and Norwich Books and Music, both of which will now carry the HarperCollins religious titles range. Stock is expected to be supplied to both distributors early next week.

Both IVP and Norwich Books and Music offer same day despatch for in-stock items on orders placed before 12 noon on weekdays, with no minimum order quantity or small order surcharge. Both companies accept orders by phone, fax or email. IVP offer a freephone order line, 0800 622968; Norwich offer online ordering via PubEasy.com. Disappointingly, however, unlike HarperCollins themselves, neither company currently offers online invoice payment via batch.co.uk.
Download pdf

HarperCollins announces new distribution deals with Inter-Varsity Press and with Norwich Books & Music

London, 10th December 2009:
HarperCollins, the UK’s most successful publisher of Christian books, today announced two new distribution deals to ensure availability of its market-leading titles to Christian retailers. HarperCollins religious titles will now be distributed to Christian bookshops by Norwich Books and Music, and by Inter-Varsity Press.

Nick Ford, HarperCollins Specialist Sales Director, said “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Norwich Books & Music and with IVP to increase our distribution to the Christian market. We look forward to this being a long and profitable relationship for both parties.”

Brian Wilson, IVP Chief Executive, said, “IVP already publishes and distributes a leading range of resources for building faith and digging deeper into the Bible, both for individuals and for churches. The new exciting partnership with Harper Collins builds on this by adding their first-class range of Bibles, books and church resources to our trade distribution list. We look forward to working closely with the team at Harper Collins to serve the ongoing needs of the Christian book trade, building on the excellent work undertaken for many years by our good friends at IBS-STL.”

Dominic Vaughan, CEO of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd, owners of Norwich Books and Music, said, “We are delighted to be distributing Harper Collins religious titles. The list is very complementary to our own publishing and that of our distribution partners: Church House Publishing, Darton Longman & Todd, the Royal School of Church Music and others. Ordering from us will mean HarperCollins customers will benefit from the excellent service that customers have enjoyed for many years.”

Sam Richardson, Head of Religious Publishing at HarperCollins, said, “I am very pleased with this new distribution arrangement and am confident that it will enable us to retain our position as the market leading publisher of Bibles, hymnbooks, liturgy and Christian reference.”

HarperCollins is the leading religious publisher in the UK, according to industry authorities Nielsen Bookscan and BML (Books Marketing Limited). It publishes a focused list of highly successful titles including the Good News Bible, Mission Praise, Weekday & Sunday Missal, and C.S. Lewis books.

HarperCollins stock will be arriving with both new distributors early next week.

Issued by: Sam Richardson
Head of Religious Publishing & Business
020 8307 4505

Norwich Books and Music ordering information

Order line: 01603 612914
Fax 01603 624483
E-mail: [removed for spam prevention: see the press release if required]

To order Harper Collins Religious titles from Norwich Books and Music, customers can pay with order or should have an account with Norwich Books and Music. To apply for an account, please telephone 01603 612914 or download an application form at www.norwichbooksandmusic.co.uk

Offices open 9:00 to 5:30 Monday to Thursday and 9:00 to 5:00 Friday Orders received up to mid day will be dispatched that day if goods are in stock. No small order surcharge or postage charge for trade customers. 30 days credit for account customers unless otherwise agreed.

Inter-Varsity Press ordering information

Order line: 0800 622968
Fax: 01159 422 694
E-mail: [removed for spam prevention: see the press release if required]

To order Harper Collins Religious titles from Inter-Varsity Press, customers can pay with order or should have an account with Inter-Varsity Press. To apply for an account, please telephone 01159 781 054 or download an application form at www.ivpbooks.com/trade

Offices open 08:45 to 5:15 Monday to Friday. Orders received up to mid day will be dispatched on the same day assuming the goods are in stock. No small order surcharge or postage charge for trade customers.
30 days credit for account customers unless otherwise agreed.

• Download the full press release (pdf, 70kb) for Editors’ Notes and email addresses.

remain confident that one or more transactions will be concluded for various aspects of the business, thus ensuring a seamless continuation of supply to our many valued customers.

The sale or sales are expected to be concluded by the week commencing 14th December and a further announcement will be made “when the sale process comes to a conclusion.”

The announcement makes no specific mention of the future of the Wesley Owen bookshops or Authentic Media/Paternoster Publishing, but Danby concludes, “we are hopeful that the majority of the business will remain for the longer term.”

• Read the full announcement

UCB2GO - Service Suspended

During what should have been their busiest time of year, the run up to Christmas, UCB have suspended their online/mail order service, UCB2GO, due to concerns over STL’s ability to supply. The suspension came into effect on November 23rd and is expected to remain in place for a period of three months:

UCB2GO has recently been closely monitoring the activity of its main supplier ‘STL’, which has made several trade announcements over the last two months and which last week put itself up for sale due to trading difficulties.

So that we can ensure that no UCB2GO customer is disappointed with unfulfilled Christmas & New Year orders we have taken the decision to suspend operations at UCB2GO for a period of three months as from the 23rd November 2009. However we are confident that our supplier will ultimately find a way forward and we continue to pray for the staff and management of STL during this difficult time.

The statement goes on to reassure customers that if recently ordered items were in stock then they can still expect to receive them; payments for orders for items that were out of stock are being refunded (cheque) or not processed (credit/debit card).

• Thank you to Andrew Lacey, who commented on this yesterday.

October 2007: Groupsoft announces the start of SAP implementation in the UK, the first phase of a proposed “multi-country” roll out:

Groupsoft starts IBS-STL SAP Retail Project in UK

IBS-STL is one of the largest Bible and Christian literature ministries in the world – they translate the Bible into world languages that have 1 million or more speakes and distribute the Bible—and evangelism and discipleship literature—to people who might never learn about Christ any other way.

Groupsoft is implementing SAP Retail ECC 6.0 – across their multi-country distribution systems – in US, UK, South Africa, India and China.

23 October 2008: STL UK website and order processing suspended for SAP installation.

28 October 2008: SAP goes live.

3 November 2008: STL Blog: Apologies are offered as problems rapidly become evident. Delays in order despatch and tracking are acknowledged:

As planned the system went live last Tuesday and we were able to despatch some orders. Orders continued to be despatched everyday last week, although it wasn’t until Friday that we experienced a relatively trouble free day and were operating at anything near full capacity. We do continue to experience some issues which may cause some inconvenience, e.g. the interface with Fed Ex is not yet operational and we are unable to advise you exactly where your order is once it has left our Warehouse.

5 November 2008: STL Blog: “some technical difficulties with a small number of orders” acknowledged. Problems with carriage charges on backorders noted.

6 November 2008: I report briefly on the situation from a retailer’s perspective: STL: Back Online but not Back Up to Speed

7 November - 11 November - 12th November 2008: STL Blog: “problems in moving stock from bulk to live racking” blamed for delays in order processing.

14 November 2008: Timing isn’t the issue – Mark Hurley: Decision to ‘Go Live’ with SAP in the run up to Christmas 2008 is defended as having been taken “at the highest level”. Trade customers express dismay as orders remain unfulfilled.

19 November 2008: Steve Mitchell presents SAP Go Live to the Booksellers Association Christian Booksellers Group (BACBG). In an open letter to trade customers, Graham Sopp apologises for ongoing problems, although problems are attributed to “business process bottlenecks” rather than to the software itself:

We originally planned to implement the new system in August. However as the date approached, it became apparent that further testing of the new system was necessary before we could commence training people in how to use the system. We were faced with a choice of going live in late October or waiting until January 2009. Unfortunately, we would have faced immense difficulties in standing down our external project team of consultants for three months while we prepared to go live and then to re-assemble that team in January. After extensive testing of the system we were confident we could start with, at most, minor disruption. So we took the decision to go live in October.

Most of the problems we have encountered over recent weeks are related to business process bottlenecks and are not directly related to software and, in fairness to the system team, could not have been anticipated by the extensive testing we carried out.

I report briefly on the BACBG meeting: STL: Light at the End of the Tunnel?

22 December 2008: STL Blog: In the face of continuing difficulties faced by trade customers, a detailed explanation and defence of the SAP implementation is offered: Why SAP and why now??

19 January 2009: Trade customers receive further apologies for delays in despatch along with the following explanation:

The reason for this is our team of consultants are still working on solving a number of bedding down issues in SAP where orders can get stuck in the system.

January/February 2009: Keith Danby takes control of UK operations and apologises for the problems caused by the UK SAP implementation. From Christian Marketplace, February 2009:

Asked about the recent difficulties which the trading arm of the charity had been experiencing in the UK, following the introduction of new systems at its warehousing operations in Carlisle, Danby said, “SAP has been a very big investment for IBS-STL. We made this investment because we believe this will ultimately give us a Global Enterprise System.”

With regards to the timing of the implementation he commented, “When we embarked on this project we wrote into the contract that we would not ‘go live’ during the autumn trading period. Originally, it was to be launched in the spring. Like all major computer projects, there was slippage and the revised date was then end of August which slipped to September and the finally to October. At one time we had over 20 SAP consultants working to keep deadlines.” He also stated, “It is important that you know that Graham [Sopp] was not asked to step down as CEO because of the SAP problems.”

Danby also made the point that had the system not gone live in October then the launch would have had to be held back to March 2009. “Delaying to March would mean the SAP consultants having to leave for 4-5 months … as they are all freelance consultants, getting them to come back as a team was regarded as unlikely.” The SAP software was successfully installed “and it works” said Danby, “but we encountered significant operational procedure problems”. He admitted that more time was needed for testing it with their operating procedures than had been anticipated.

“We have spent 21 years being committed to serving the UK Christian Retail trade”, he said. “We take failures like this very seriously and I say again we are deeply embarrassed and sorry.”

25 February 2009: STL Blog: Update given on returns, receiving and backorders:

Single line backorders are still occuring; however we have seen a substantial reduction in the incidence. Our team along with consultants from SAP are continuing to work on resolving the residual issues.

8 April 2009: STL Blog: Message from Keith Danby acknowledges ongoing unresolved issues “with the new IT system” and announces the appointment of Andrew Clyde as Director of IT with specific responsibility for SAP development work.

1 May 2009: STL Blog: Problems with SAP blamed for Invoices with 0% discount:

If for a new product a product group is selected on a discount matrix where no value is maintained then SAP will apply no trade discount to the order – the result on your invoice is 0% discount. So how could this happen? Well, SAP is not able to automatically check that for say a particular Authentic book the combination of product group and customer group is correct.

14 August 2009: STL Blog: Trade Announcement from Keith Danby states:

A number of factors including the SAP implementation have caused STL Distribution serious Supply Chain difficulties, which have resulted in severe cash flow problems.

16 November 2009: Biblica announces the sale of its UK operations and lays much of the blame for the crisis upon the problems with SAP. This is perhaps best summarised in Tania Mason‘s report for Civil Society, Top-250 Christian charity to close, 18/11/2009:

David Young, the charity’s UK general manager, said the charity had been struggling financially for some time but the failed attempt to install an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in October 2008, that should have integrated all its warehousing, sales and customer services, was the nail in the coffin.

“We installed the accounting software a year earlier and on its own it worked fine, but the implementation of the ERP caused all kinds of problems with inventory and it was just as the recession hit. Those two things together gave us serious problems.”

They resulted in significant cashflow pressures, excess stock, and supply chain and service difficulties in the charity’s distribution and retail units. [...]

[...] SAP is yet to respond to IBS-STL UK’s criticism of its ERP system. A spokeswoman told Civil Society: “They are still talking about and trying to get to grips with the problem.”

18 November 2009: STL Distribution USA issues a statement — cited at Christian Book Shop Talk — to counter rumours that its operations are also under threat, advising customers (amongst other things) that

The US organization has not attempted to install the SAP software, and our systems are not affected by the attempted installation in the UK.

Concluding Reflections

The fact that the USA division (and presumably the other international divisions mentioned in Groupsoft’s October 2007 announcement) has not attempted to install SAP raises at least two questions:

• At what point was the decision made to discontinue the global roll out?
• Why, at that point, was the UK implementation not halted?

To an outside observer — judging purely by the extent to which the blame for STL UK’s crisis has been placed on the SAP implementation failure — it appears that IBS-STL UK, its employees and trade partners seem more than anything else to be paying the price for drawing the short straw: for being unfortunate enough to be first in a roll out that was part of a much grander scheme. If the implementation had first been attempted in the USA, South Africa, China or India, would it now be one of those divisions fighting for survival instead of the UK?

Clearly other factors have been at play, not least the state of the economy, but the SAP implementation had to start somewhere and it is a tragedy that Biblica, in the end, did not have the necessary resources to support the division that drew that terrible short straw.

• UKCBD Blog: Posts tagged SAP
• Google Search: IBS-STL and SAP
• STL Blog: Posts mentioning SAP

He said he understood there had been “significant interest” from possible buyers but did not want to raise hopes.

However, the fact Edinburgh is one of the company’s biggest stores in terms of turnover and has a central location could make it a more attractive proposition than some other parts of the business.

Mr Young added: “We are really keen to sell as much as we can to secure the jobs.”

He said a potential buyer would not have to bid for the whole chain, but might be interested in individual shops or a cluster of shops. “We are taking the next few weeks to gauge the level of interest, then we hope to make some kind of announcement.”

• Read the full interview
• STL UK Crisis: Reports roundup

Nonetheless, in response to several queries, here is a rough guide to how I would envisage a new business taking shape under a trade/community shared ownership model. This is emphatically not a business plan: it is very much preliminary thinking and all input, for, against or otherwise, is very welcome.

• Freedom of speech, including the use of blogs and social media, will be actively encouraged at all levels.
• SAP will be subjected to intense scrutiny and, given the experience to date, most likely scrapped, to be replaced by a tried and tested system licensed from another wholesaler.

Looking at the three divisions…

1. Wesley Owen
The chain itself would cease to exist. The shops would be rebranded and refocused on their local communities, with consortia of local churches and/or other Christian groups each taking responsibility for their own local branch, with an emphasis upon developing the shop as a social/community hub. Branch managers and staff would be responsible for stock selection with each shop aiming to become self-sufficient within a pre-agreed period.

• Please see Matt Wardman’s post New Ways of Being Bookshop and the appendix of related discussions for some ideas on how this might be taken forward.

2. STL Distribution
The distribution division would be owned and operated by its employees, retailers, publishers and other investors working together. My vision would be for it to be run by a democratic board drawn from amongst the investors and answerable to their fellow investors: a genuine shared ownership company operated by the very people for whom it exists.

• To help tackle the debts, I invite publishers to consider writing off some or all of the amounts owed to them in exchange for part ownership.
• Retailers investing in the operation would be offered preferential trade terms.

3. Authentic Media and Paternoster Press
The publishing division would be offered for sale to other Christian publishing houses, possibly splitting into three segments: music, popular books and academic books. I do not expect, however, this to be an issue as I would be surprised if Biblica have not already found a buyer (or buyers) for this division.

Wrapping Up
Thank you to all those who have contributed to the discussions so far: please keep your comments and suggestions coming. As previously stated, this is not a business plan, although I hope that it might form the foundation for one. At present the ball remains in Biblica’s court…

I may be a tad crazy but I’m not crazy enough to think the entire edifice can be saved intact: it will have to be split up into smaller parts, with local Christian groups pooling resources to support specific branches of Wesley Owen, rebranded and refocused to serve their local communities. Kudos to the Bishop of Willesden, Pete Broadbent: he’s written to clergy in his area to see whether they can do something to keep the Harrow branch open. Do we have similar initiatives elsewhere in the country?

It’s also clear that some very hard questions need to be asked about the SAP implementation: why was it allowed to go so badly wrong? Why was it done as an all-or-nothing no-way-back project? We seem to be looking at some very serious high-level incompetence here and one of the first things whoever takes over the business will need to do is take a long, hard at this — then most likely scrap the system and start again.

An intriguing paragraph in the Civil Society report seems to offer a possible ray of hope for any parts of the business for which no buyer is found:

The corporate finance division of Baker Tilly is marketing the operations of the charity to a number of interested parties and hopes to complete negotiations for the sales or potential closures within the next few weeks. Young said that if buyers are not found for all parts of the business, Biblica may step in and buy the rest, but “ultimately IBS-STL UK will be wound up”.

Looking beyond Wesley Owen for a moment, all the shops that signed up to STL’s ‘Crown Books’ scheme now need to urgently rethink their ops.

Finally for now, for those who may have missed yesterday’s brief note: news has emerged of at least one publisher, Kingsway, pulling their stock out of STL’s Carlisle warehouse, returning it to their HQ in Eastbourne. I have requested further information from Kingsway: what happens, for instance, to retailers’ outstanding orders? No doubt an official announcement will be forthcoming.

Update, 24/11/2009: John Paculabo from Kingsway states:

As we approach certain timelines in our agreement, there are decisions that Kingsway will take irrespective of whether STL find a buyer or not, and currently these relate to foreign distribution.

STL remain our trade distributor, however in the today’s climate this poses a number of questions going forward, needless to say we are aware of thecomutations and possible implications.

I can assure you that Kingsway has not removed all of its stock from STL.

Update, 16/12/2009: Kingsway Books & Music back in stock at STL: STL Blog | Email Archive

Reports and Responses
Google News Search: Wesley Owen | IBS-STL UK | Biblica
Carlisle News & Star: STL News Stories

Reports marked * are largely nothing more than re-runs of the official press release. For a roundup of more recent reports, see Wesley Owen: 26 Branches Enter Administration, Others Sold (Updated) (19/12/2009)

Most recent first, list updated 12/12/2009:

• GroomNews Christmas 2009: Phil’s Boring Blog, 11/12/2009
• Great deals at Eden.co.uk / Shop Christian: Mimsie, 11/12/2009
• WESLEY OWEN & the decline of High Street Christian Book Retailing: Peter Swift, 10/12/2009
• Prayer Focus 9-23 December: Mission Ireland, 09/12/2009
• Biblica and STL UK: A Strange Way to Attract Investors? Phil’s Boring Blog, 06/12/2009
• Has a buyer been found for Wesley Owen? Sacred Fish Project, 05/12/2009
• Buyer for Wesley Owen? Church Mouse, 05/12/2009
• Credit card giant axes 350 jobs in Glasgow: Evening Times, 04/12/2009
• More change on the book block: Cupblog, 04/12/2009
• 500 staff face axe as religious book shops up for sale: Herald Scotland, 04/12/2009
• Future of Worthing Christian bookshop in doubt : Worthing Herald, 03/12/2009
• Financial disaster hits British media player: Religious Intelligence, 03/12/2009
• Christian bookshop fights for survival: thisisbath.co.uk; cross posted at fwix.com, Keynsham People, 02/12/2009
• Wesley Owen to close!! Fat Prophet, 29/11/2009
• World of Youth Ministry: Youth Blog, 25/11/2009
• Bookshop staff face losing jobs: Edinburgh Evening News; cross posted at Scotsman.com, 24/11/2009
• Imagine 40 Christian Bookstores Hanging in the Balance: STL (UK): Christian Book Shop Talk, 24/11/2009
• Some random thoughts on UK Christian Bookselling: Eddie Olliffe, 24/11/2009
• May you write through interesting times…: Nick Page, 24/11/2009
• Wesley Owen: Hilton Church Blog, 24/11/2009
• IBS-STL an opportunity? Neil Brighton, Distinct Reflections, 21/11/2009
• Church Times – IBS-STL decides to ‘exit the business’: Mike Tea, 20/11/2009
• The fate of books: Chris Walley, 20/11/2009
• Christian Bookshops crisis: Maggi Dawn, 20/11/2009
• ‘Missional Thinking’ about Christian Stores: Christian Retailing, 20/11/2009
• IBS-STL UK up for sale: Christian Retailing, 20/11/2009
• More on IBS-STL: The Bible Society plans to gather the Christian book trade in January: Church Times Blog, 20/11/2009
• Wesley Owen faces closure as IBS-STL decides to ‘exit the business’: Scottish Christian News Monitor, cross posted from Church Times
• IBS-STL decides to ‘exit the business’: Church Times, 20/11/2009
• Christian charity forced to put Wesley Owen on the block: The Bookseller, 20/11/2009
• * Wesley Owen & STL Distribution & Authentic Media – up for sale: New Christian Music, 20/11/2009
• Wesley Owen Glasgow: GadgetVicar, 19/11/2009
• Book giant to sell all UK businesses: Baptist Times, 19/11/2009
• Charity Closing over IT Problems: Agile CIO, 19/11/2009
• From Dream to Nightmare to – where do we go from here? Phil’s Boring Blog, 19/11/2009
• Nostalgia isn’t the source of missional thinking: Simon Jones, A Sideways Glance, 19/11/2009
• STL: Bishop’s Blog, 19/11/2009
• Wesley Owen: Custardy, 18/11/2009
• * Bible charity IBS-STL UK puts its commercial side up for sale: Third Sector, 18/11/2009
• Christian book and bible charity IBS-STL UK is looking for a buyer for its commercial operations after a “succession of financial problems”: eChurchWebsites, 18/11/2009
• Nicky Lee seller put on market: Lovereading, 18/11/2009
• * IBS-STL to sell Authentic Media, Wesley Owen: Christian Today, 18/11/2009
• STL UK Operations at Risk: Computer System Blamed: Christian Book Shop Talk, 18/11/2009
• Top-250 Christian charity to close: Civil Society, 18/11/2009
• * Christian book and Bible charity to sell operations: Inspire Magazine (undated)
• IBS-STL up for sale… Not sure who will buy…: James Doc, 17/11/2009
• Charity put up for sale: Hannah Lomas, ITV Lookaround: Border Regional News (Video), 17/11/2009
• Wesley Owen/STL/Authentic up for sale: Strangers and Aliens, 17/11/2009
• Farewell Wesley Owen? The Church Mouse, 17/11/2009 | Cross posted on Facebook
• Good Bye Wesley Owen? The Sacred Fish Project, 17/11/2009
• Missional thinking about the high street: Simon Jones, A Sideways Glance, 17/11/2009
• One hundred and fifty jobs at risk at Cumbria Bible Firm: News & Star, Carlisle, 17/11/2009 | Cross posted at Cumberland News
• * STL To Be Sold: Cross Rhythms, 17/11/2009
• The end of Christian Bookshops? Clayboy, 17/11/2009
• Wesley Owen: The end? Ship of Fools, discussion started 17/11/2009
• Uber tired…: Paul Kercal, 16/11/2009
• * IBS-STL UK Announces Plan to Sell UK Operations: Christian Marketplace, 16/11/2009
• * Leading Bible distributor collapses: Religious Intelligence, 16/11/2009
• * Leading Christian Charity IBS-STL UK Announces Plans To Sell Operations Due To Financial Challenges: BiblicalStudies.org.uk, 16/11/2009
• * Leading Christian Charity IBS-STL UK Announces Plans to Sell Operations due to Financial Challenges: Sloppynoodle.com, 16/11/2009
• Send the Light up for sale: Everything Christian, 16/11/2009
• STL, selling up…….: Supersimbo, 16/11/2009
• STL’s UK businesses for sale: Wesley Owen bookshops, Authentic Media, STL Distribution: Church Times Blog, 16/11/2009
• STL UK puts up the ‘For Sale’ sign: who will buy? SPCK/SSG, 16/11/2009
• Wesley Owen for sale: Premier Christian Community, 16/11/2009