Frustrations voiced over Bertrams stock retrieval

A number of booksellers and publishers have expressed frustration as they try to retrieve stock from the collapsed wholesaler Bertrams’ warehouse. The company has £7m in book stock, of which £5.6m is subject to retention of title. 

One independent retailer told The Bookseller they were being asked to sort through 200 pallets of unmarked stock themselves to identify their titles at the Norwich warehouse, as the administrator has no lists or details of suppliers. 

Kevin Duffy, co-founder of Bluemoose Books, confirmed he had received some books back, but had not been told how many more items he has yet to receive. “We have been hit by lost income which we'll never get back,” he said. "Our distributors have retrieved some books, but as yet we don't know how much stock there is, what titles [they are], and if they are damaged at all. But even retrieving the books and putting them back into stock will incur costs, so that's a double whammy and we won't be able to retrieve those costs from the administrators.”

Others are worried about having books sent back that are unlikely to sell. Louise Ashmore, co-owner of Read.Holmfirth in Huddersfield, said: “We were in the middle of a literature festival which got cancelled, so we sent back over £1,000 worth of books. We know they reached the warehouse but we’ve never been credited and subsequently have outstanding invoices for those books.” 

She is worried that she will now “instead receive the books back, which would not be good news—over 100 copies of the Lemn Sissay autobiography in hardback, [which is] now out in paperback, would be somewhat difficult to sell. We haven’t heard anything so I hope this isn’t the case.”

Joint administrator Turpin Barker Armstrong said: “We recognise the concerns of a minority of suppliers regarding the retrieval of stock, which is subject to Retention of Title following Bertram Trading Limited (“The Company”) entering administration. We can confirm we are actively working with the asset purchaser (and current occupier of the Company’s former trading premises) and affected suppliers to find a resolution as quickly as possible. Any suppliers that have queries regarding the retrieval of stock, which is subject to Retention of Title, are advised to contact the administrators directly.”

Bertrams went into administration in June; a recent "statement of affairs" on Companies House revealed the wholesaler has just £600,000 to pay its 2,500 trade creditors, who are owed a combined total of £25m.