SPONSOR


DESCRIPTION


  


INDIVIDUAL BOOKSELLER OF THE YEAR KERRY GILMARTIN


THE SHORTLIST


Gwen Allman THE COMPANY OF BOOKS





WHITE ROSE BOOK CAFÉ


 THE EDINBURGH BOOKSHOP


 BLACKWELLS


 KENNYS


 BURLEY FISHER BOOKS


Helen 


WONDERLAND BOOKSHOP


F


rom yet another shortlist with exceptionally high standards this year, Waterstones retail manager Kerry Gilmartin emerges as the


Individual Bookseller of the Year, rewarded for her outstanding retail skills, relentless energy and inspirational leadership. Two decades into her bookselling career,


Gilmartin spent time at Borders and various Waterstones locations before taking on respon- sibility for stores around north-west England. She has transformed shops wherever she has gone, most notably at Liverpool One, where she grasped what the city wanted from its flag- ship bookshop, established new strengths in genres including manga and graphic novels, and embraced the TikTok phenomenon. Her flair for events was shown at a hugely ambitious launch for Paul McCartney’s The Lyrics, which later became Waterstones’ Book of the Year.


37 Beyond all that, she understands the role


bookshops play in their areas’ communities and literacy—especially in places hit hard by the pandemic, such as Blackpool and Preston—and leads an initiative to donate books to cash- strapped local schools. “She is kind, witty and one of the most humble, inspiring booksellers in the business,” said one colleague. “City centres have been tough places to


sell anything in the last few years, so the growth shows a lot of very hard work,” added the judges. “Kerry is a bookseller that doesn’t wait for help from head office or colleagues— she takes the lead and comes up with brilliant ideas. You feel you want to spend a day in a shop with her to see how she does it all.” They also admired her management of store staff and ability to lead by example. “She has looked after her teams with passion and care over a hard couple of years for everyone.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64