Gardners reopens former Bertrams warehouse

Gardners has reopened the Norwich warehouse it obtained after acquiring the assets of Bertrams. Stock will now be supplied from facilities in Eastbourne and Norwich. 

Nigel Wyman, sales and marketing director at Gardners, wrote on Twitter: "You may notice that some of your deliveries from @Gardners have two invoices. This is because we are now using our Norwich facility as well as our Eastbourne [one] to make sure we have continuity of supply over the coming quarter and beyond". 

Gardners' parent company The Little Group bought the assets of Bertrams in July. Gardners said the move would enable it to continue to expand its range and stockholding. It is not yet clear what kind of capacity the warehouse has, but its reopening will neverthless calm some fears about the supply chain in the run-up to Christmas, as well as the impact of any localised lockdown in the South East.

Speaking to The Bookseller over the summer, Wyman said the main drive for the expansion was to "support the industry over the next six months and beyond", and to make sure the company is able to support booksellers with stock and title availability.