Bertrams has just £600k to pay £25m debts, statement shows

The collapsed wholesaler Bertrams has just £600,000 to pay debts to publishers, a “statement of affairs” published on Companies House this week shows. The statement reveals 2,500 trade creditors are owed a total of £25m.

HarperCollins Distribution is listed as being owed £2m and MDL, Pan Macmillan’s distribution company, is owed £1.7m. Penguin Random House’s distribution company Grantham Book Services is owed over £2m. The publishers have yet to confirm whether their insurance will cover the payout discrepancy.

Among other creditors, Oxford University Press and Pearson Education are owed more than £1m each. Diamond Book Distributors in Cheshire is owed more than £100,000, and Central Books over £300,000.

A number of indies recently confirmed they were owed money by Bertrams, with concerns over whether the sums would be paid, though they were advised to petition the administrator for payment. The “statement of affairs” confirms Leicester-based children’s publisher Sweet Cherry is owed in excess of £3,000.

Bertrams has £7m in book stock, of which £5.6m is subject to retention of title, the statement confirmed.

Administrator Turpin Barker Armstrong confirmed Bertrams’ administration on 19th August, along with Education Umbrella Limited, a supplier of textbooks and digital education resources, and academic and professional library supplier Dawson Books.

Assets from the stricken business were acquired by Gardners parent company The Little Group last month.