The Bookseller.com

6th September 2008

J RIVERS

Julian Rivers was a founding director and deputy c.e.o. of the Bertram Group. He now runs a consultancy, and is chairman of Waterside Books and a director of Meet The Author.

Fair trade

17.03.08

In the book trade, time makes some of us liars and many of us fools. One advantage of a 36-year trade career is that I have witnessed things come full circle. I see W H Smith reinventing itself, going back to its core offer before consultants and management stalled it. I see Waterstone's arguing, this time for environmental reasons, the benefits of setting up a central distribution centre.

In the '80s, people were predicting that the demise of the Net Book Agreement would end the book world as we knew it. Fortunately, they were right. Amazon and others emerged in the post-NBA era, and now the indies are flourishing with more opening (81) than closing (72) last year. The hobbyists have retired, the bad shops withered and new professionals are showing the way. The same is true with indie publishing. What the traditionalists meant was that the end of the NBA heralded the end of their world.

In 1999 The Bookseller reported the merger of Bertrams and Cypher, the largest UK library supplier. This followed the US model where wholesale and library supply came out of the same door. The formation of the Bertram Group was predicated on the application of wholesale publisher supply terms into library supply, because a library supplier paid much more than a wholesaler for the same book even if they bought the same number.

Back then Amanda Ridout, then of Headline, said it was "important that we keep the level of discounts appropriate to the different channels"—presumably so that publishers could continue to rip off library authorities and thus the taxpayer. Jonathan Little at Gardners was cutting when he said he would not follow suit: "We believe our strength is in supporting our customers, not undermining them." But now Gardners has acquired Askews and Holt Jackson, and has owned Browns for years.

Gardners' acquisitions are inevitable, as Bertrams' 1999 move heralded the end of 19th-century library terms. When it acquired Cypher, 35% discount and 30 days' credit was the norm for publisher supply, with the libraries receiving a fixed 10%. No wonder the NBA was the publishers' agreement—it protected them. Now the libraries themselves get 35%-plus.

Bertrams was never able to gather all its business under one roof, but Gardners should, and save costs as a result. That will bolster the bottom line further. After all, the public library supply market is worth about £90m, less than these companies' combined total supply to significant internet customers.

Julian Rivers libraries Bertrams Gardners Home Holt Jackson Cypher