Bookshop owners "earn £22,000 per year"

Independent bookshop owners paid themselves an average wage of £22,200 in 2010, according to a new survey.

Figures revealed that the average sales of those bookshops which took part in last year’s Bookseller Fitness Programme (BFP) equalled £370,000. The average profit an independent bookseller made was £44,400 with the owner paying themselves £22,200.

Last year’s figures also revealed that of the average turnover of £370,000, just over 70%of that figure from book sales.

The shops reported a slight increase of 1% in sales in the latest figures compared to the previous year, although the growth came from non-book rather than book sales. On average book sales dropped by 2%.

Staffing represented the largest single overhead, accounting for an average of 38% of the total, and representing 13% of turnover. Rates, rents and mortgages represented 15% of the overheads, and 5% of sales, whereas spending on marketing and websites represented just 3% of overheads.

The figures are taken from a survey of the 34 bookshops which took part in 2010’s BFP. This year the Booksellers Association, which runs the scheme, is calling for more indies to sign up.

The programme aims to help booksellers monitor the fitness of their business against the sector as a whole by asking them to provide year-end figures on a range of "key performance indicators".