Budget book chain in administration• BBS becomes first retail casualty of 2011

• Business will trade while buyer is sought
• Source says Christmas trading was 'horrific'

Amy Fallon guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 January 2011

Budget bookseller British Bookshops & Stationers , which employs about 300 people in the south of England, has become the first retail casualty of 2011 after entering administration.

Simon Appell, Fraser Gray and Stuart Mackellar, of the recovery specialists Zolfo Cooper, have been appointed administrators while the future of the 51-store company is being considered. They have brought in restructuring and stock disposal specialist GA Europe to run BBS.

However, it is thought the business will continue to trade normally. It recorded a turnover of £25.7m in the year to end-January 2010, but made a loss of £6m.

According to the website TheBookseller.com, the book distributor MDL stopped supplying BBS over an unpaid bill. BBS's website is said to have stopped taking orders last weekend.

A source told the Bookseller that Christmas trading had been "horrific". Like-for-like sales were down by double digits, they said.



The news comes after rumours began circulating about BBS's future this week. The administrator's appointment was "unfortunately the result of cash flow difficulties suffered by the business, coupled with the tough trading climate for retailers and especially booksellers at present," Appell said.


"This is an attractive company with a large network of stores across the south of England and we have already received expressions of interest from potential buyers," he said.

GA Europe said the performance of BBS, which has a history going back to 1938, declined in the latter part of 2010. "Bad weather also severely impacted Christmas sales, which came in below expectations," they said.