SPONSOR
DESCRIPTION
Simon & Schuster UK is one of the leading book publishing companies in the UK. The group is based in London with sister companies in the US, Canada, Australia and India. Within the UK division,
BOOK RETAILER OF THE YEAR
BOOKSHOP.ORG
THE SHORTLIST A Great Read The Bookery Books2Door Waterstones W H Smith
PICTURED
BOOKSHOP.ORG FOUNDER ANDY HUNTER AND BELOW UK M.D. NICOLE VANDERBILT
B
ookshop.org has been bookselling’s most impactful new arrival in years, and takes this award ahead of some long-established names.
The business was just one month old as it
entered 2021, but by the end of the year it felt like part of the furniture. Booksellers seized the opportunity to hand over the logistics of online retail and get a dividend from people who wanted to support their local indie, and across 2021 the platform generated nearly £2m for the 500-plus stores and affiliates it serves. It felt almost too good to be true, but as one bookseller said: “We kept flinching from the blow of discovering what the catch was… but it never came.” For a new platform,
Bookshop.org proved
adept at customer engagement and promotion, with book curations and content that helped it feel like a natural extension of friendly and knowledgeable shop teams. It was a valuable
channel for authors too, generating several big hits from a standing start and staging popular online events to replace lost real-world ones. Its socially conscious mission extended to a New Futures programme that aims to support shops founded by entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds; and to sustainability, with the achievement of carbon-neutral status. “
Bookshop.org is an amazing concept… it’s
the perfect solution for the times,” said the judges. “It’s been a lifeline to independents and has kept shops going during lockdowns. It’s a game-changer, without a doubt, and it’s going to get even bigger and better.” They also liked how
Bookshop.org had taken a head-on approach to challenging internet retailers. “It is helping to mobilise people’s support at just the right moment… it has created a movement as well as a business. It’s such a compelling story. What’s not to love?”
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