THIS WEEK
Amid competition from a record- breaking number of shortlistees, a number of previous regional champions return to contend for Independent Bookshop of the Year
The Independents The British Book Awards 2020
The British Book Awards 2020 Independent Bookshop of the Year T
hree of last year’s British Book Awards Independent Bookshop of the Year regional winners (Five Leaves, Book-ish and DRAKE—the Bookshop) are vying to retain their crowns in the quest to be named the country’s best indie retailer.
A record 49 independents are shortlisted in nine regions across the UK and Ireland. The winners of each region will be announced on 20th March, with those shops then batling for the top prize at the Nibbies ceremony, to be held at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 18th May. Sponsor Gardners Books will once again present the overall winner with a cheque for £5,000 to be put towards the running of the shop.
By Bookseller staff
There are 16 shops which have previously won regional crowns since The Bookseller instituted the current shortlisting system in 2011, including two-time champs The Edinburgh Bookshop (Scotland), Book-ish (Wales) and Forum Books (North England). Notingham’s Five Leaves claimed the overall gong in 2018, the only former top-prize winner on this year’s regionals. Yet there are relative newcomers on the list, too, including Bristol’s Storysmith and The Margate
East
Bookmark Spalding
Regional shortlists
Lindum Books Lincoln
The Book Hive Norwich
Ireland
The Blessington Book Store County Wicklow
Philip’s Book Shop County Cork
Woodbine Books County Kildare
London
BrOOK’S Pinner
Burley Fisher Books Hackney
Gay’s the Word St Pancras
London (cont.)
The Kew Bookshop Kew
Housmans King’s Cross
Moon Lane Books Lewisham
Pages of Hackney Hackney
South Kensington Books South Kensington
Midlands
Burway Books Church Stretton
Button & Bear Children’s Bookshop Shrewsbury
Five Leaves Bookshop Nottingham
The Borzoi Bookshop Stow-on-the-Wold
North
DRAKE–The Bookshop Stockton-on-Tees
Forum Books Corbridge
Sam Read Bookseller Grasmere
The Book Corner Halifax
The Grove Bookshop Ilkley
The Little Ripon Bookshop Ripon
White Rose Book Café Thirsk
Scotland
Far From the Madding Crowd Linlithgow
Lighthouse Bookshop Edinburgh
The Bookmark Grantown-on-Spey
10 21st February 2020
LAST YEAR’S WINNER GOLDEN HARE BOOKS
Bookshop, which began trading in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Tom Tivnan, The Bookseller managing editor, said: “The indie sector has had a resurgence in the last few years with a growing number of stores and an increased market share. We can see evidence of why in the strength and depth of the brilliant shops on our regional shortlists.”
Scotland (cont.)
The Edinburgh Bookshop Edinburgh
The Highland Bookshop Fort William
South-East
Coles Books Bicester
Hungerford Bookshop Hungerford
Mostly Books Abingdon
Mrs Middleton’s Shop and The Rabbit Hole Freshwater, Isle of Wight
The Book Shop Lee-on-Solent
The Bookshop East Grinstead
The Margate Bookshop Margate
South-West
Falmouth Bookseller Falmouth
Hunting Raven Books Frome
Octavia’s Bookshop Cirencester
Padstow Bookseller Padstow
Sarum College Bookshop Salisbury
Storysmith Bristol The Corsham Bookshop Corsham
White Horse Bookshop Marlborough
Wales Book-ish Crickhowell
The Chepstow Bookshop Chepstow
Cover To Cover Swansea Griffin Books Penarth
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