Indies' concerns over Connect Books sale

Independent bookshops have expressed some anxieties over the news that Connect Books is now up for sale, saying it is a valued business partner and maintaining competition is important in the space.

Parent company Connect Group has given the business, which includes wholesaler Bertrams, Dawson Books academic library supply and e-tailer Wordery, a holding value of £15m and aims to sell within 12 months. The books arm was declared “no longer core to the group’s future direction” as part of a strategic review.

Nic Bottomley, owner of Mr B’s in Bath told The Bookseller that he worried the sale could have a “detrimental effect” on the improvements made at Bertrams in recent years. “Bertrams in 2017, when compared to five or even two or three years ago – they’re really much stronger and more efficient that before. They’re getting stronger and stronger and they’re a good close business partners for us. It would be a shame if [the sale] had a detrimental effect on the vast improvements that have been going on at Bertrams recently,” he said.

Marie Moser at the Edinburgh Bookshop said: “I think it is not good for any market not to have at least two wholesalers. There are stock issue sometimes and you may find one has something another doesn’t.” She added she had observed Bertams had been “working very hard the last 18 months” and was “leading the field right now” in her mind. “If it is not bought, it would be a loss genuinely,” she said, adding: “And I certainly don’t want them bought by Amazon. It’s not healthy for competition.”

Richard Drake, of Drake The Bookshop in Stockton, said: "Having a choice of wholesalers is a good thing as it extends our virtual stock levels so I guess as long as whoever buys it plans to run it in a similar fashion to now then all good. However if it is taken up by one of the supermarkets, then I suspect that would be a little more disconcerting.”He added: “Anything that marginalises the indies is obviously, in my opinion, not a good thing."

However Tim West of The Big Green Bookshop in North London, took a more optimistic view. He said: “It could be that someone buys them and this means they have better service. They have a very good service already, I’ve always enjoyed the Bertline [bookshop stock control system], but it could always be improved. I hope they get a good buyer who keeps it as a wholesaler.”

Bottomley told The Bookseller that the holding value was a “good deal” so he was not worried about the company finding a buyer. “[The business is doing so well that] someone is definitely going to snap it up. £15m is a snip – it’s such a good deal. I have no fear that they’re not going to find an enthusiastic buyer,” he said.

Connect Books managing director Justin Adams was keen to allay fears of any disruption to the company's every day operations, saying it would be“ very much business as usual” for the books division as it “investigated the various options for a sale”.

“We have increasingly operated as a standalone division within Connect Group as it has sought to refocus on becoming a leading specialist distribution business,” he told The Bookseller. “ Therefore it will be very much business as usual as we investigate the various options for a sale. In the meantime we will continue to focus on serving our customers and publishers through continued improvements in the breadth and depth of our offer, and targeted investment to support this and the most cost efficient supply chain possible”.

Connect Books' annual sales were up 13% to £221.3m year-on-year, with a strong performance in its Bertrams wholesale arm with revenue up 18.6% to £108m, while Wordery saw sales soar by 20.9% to £59.7m. However domestic sales dipped 7.2% and export sales down 7.7% in euros, which the firm blamed on “more challenging conditions impacted by the combination of Brexit, which has created inevitable uncertainty in the higher education sector, and volatile exchange rates, and ongoing austerity challenges especially in the public library sector”.