Waterstone's
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Waterstones Booksellers Limited,
trading as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...
Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British book retailer based in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and other nearby countries. it employed around 3,500 staff in Britain and Europe. The average Waterstones branch sells a range of approximately 30,000 individual books, as well as
stationery Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...
and other related products. Founded in 1982 by Tim Waterstone, the bookseller expanded rapidly until being sold in 1993 to
WHSmith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service s ...
. In 1998 Waterstones was bought by a consortium of Waterstone,
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
, and
Advent International Advent International Corporation is an American global private equity firm. It is focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strat ...
. The company was taken under the umbrella of
HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...
, which later merged the Dillons and Ottakar's brands into the company. Following several poor sets of results for the group, HMV put the chain up for sale. In May 2011 it was announced that A&NN Capital Fund Management, owned by the Russian billionaire businessman
Alexander Mamut Alexander Leonidovich Mamut (; born 29 January 1960) is a Russian-Israeli billionaire, oligarch, lawyer, banker and investor. Until 2020, he was a co-owner of Rambler Group. In June 2022, ''Forbes'' estimated Mamut's net worth at $2 billion. ...
, had bought the chain for £53.5 million and appointed James Daunt as the managing director. The company is incorporated in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
as Waterstones Booksellers Ltd, with its registered office at 203–206
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
, London (which is also the location of its flagship shop). Waterstones also owns
Hodges Figgis Hodges Figgis is a long-operating bookshop in central Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1768, it is probably the third-oldest functioning bookshop in the world, after the Livraria Bertrand of Lisbon (1732) and Pennsylvania's Moravian Book Shop (174 ...
(the oldest bookshop in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, founded in 1768), Hatchards (the oldest bookshop in Britain, founded in 1797), and
Foyles Foyles, a trading name of Waterstones Booksellers Limited (formerly W & G Foyle Ltd.), is a bookseller with a chain of seven stores in England. It is best known for its flagship store in Charing Cross Road, London. Foyles was once listed in ...
(a chain of seven bookshops in England). In April 2018 the American investment-management firm Elliott Management Corporation bought a majority stake in the company. The bookseller has concession agreements with
Paperchase Paperchase is an international chain of stationery stores which was established in the United Kingdom but has since expanded into Continental Europe, the USA and United Arab Emirates. As well as stand alone stores, in the UK there were concess ...
and previously had ones with the coffee chains
Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...
and
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
in some shops, but since 2012 has introduced its own Café W brand. For a time, Waterstones sold
e-reader An e-reader, also called an e reader or e device, is a Mobile computing, mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and Periodical literature, periodicals. Any device that can display text on ...
s, including in 2012 partnering with
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
to sell the
Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking ...
, but has since pulled out of this market for commercial reasons. Waterstones administers and supports various literary awards, including the
Children's Laureate Children's Laureate, now known as the Waterstones Children's Laureate, is a position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field". The rol ...
award and the
Waterstones Children's Book Prize The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is the ...
.


History and developments


Formation & WHSmith: 1982–1998

The chain was founded in 1982 by Tim Waterstone after he took a £6,000 redundancy payout from WHSmith. He set up his first shop in
Old Brompton Road Old Brompton Road is a major street in the South Kensington district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It starts from South Kensington tube station, South Kensington Underground station and runs south-west, through a ma ...
,
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
with the ambition of creating a "different breed of bookshop", using techniques he had seen in the United States. He used literary authors in front-of-shop displays and employed highly literate staff. The model proved successful and the chain set about expanding its shop portfolio. In 1990 WHSmith took a strong minority stake in the chain, and ten years after its birth, by 1992, Waterstone's had grown to be the largest bookseller group in Europe. WHSmith then acquired the company in 1993 at an enterprise value of £47m, paying £5.27 a share on 8.1m 10p shares, a 53x multiple for the early-stage investors. Under WHSmith, Waterstones pursued international expansion, opening its first US shop in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in 1991, as well as further domestic expansion—opening its 100th UK shop in a former chapel in Reading. The chain was part of the eventual dismantling of the Net Book Agreement, when in 1991, following a promotion by then-rivals Dillons, the company decided to pursue its own discounting promotion on selected titles. By 1997, the agreement had collapsed and been declared illegal.


HMV Group: 1998–2011

Following an attempt by Tim Waterstone in 1997 to buy the entire WHSmith group, WHSmith sold the Waterstones chain for £300 million to HMV Media plc (now HMV Group)—a joint venture between EMI, Advent International and Tim Waterstone. This included high-street brands
HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...
and rival Dillons, creating an international entertainment retailer. Waterstone was appointed chairman of the group but stood down in 2001, citing "concerns for the way the company was being run", and was replaced by Alan Giles. A year later, all Dillons shops were rebranded as Waterstones, with some sold to rival Ottakar's, making the brand defunct. The chain had also begun pulling out of its US overseas venture. In 2001, Waterstones launched the ''Waterstones Books Quarterly'' magazine, containing book reviews and author interviews. In the same year, the booksellers' online operation, Waterstones.co.uk, was franchised to
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
, with the company expressing a desire "to concentrate on its high street and campus shops". The move resulted in the loss of 50 jobs. In 2003, Waterstones announced it was supporting Dyslexia Action as its chosen charity, helping to raise awareness and understanding for dyslexia. In 2006, Giles stepped down from his position and was replaced by Gerry Johnson as managing director of Waterstones and Simon Fox as group CEO. In April 2006, following two bids by
Permira Permira Holdings Limited is a British global investment firm specialised in buyouts, growth funds, equity funds, and credit funds. Founded in 1985 as part of Schroders, it became independent in 1996. Operating as Permira since 2001, the company ...
for the group, Tim Waterstone attempted to buy back the company from HMV for £256 million, but later withdrew his offer, specifying that the conditions set by HMV were "too punitive" to accept. A strategic review in September saw Waterstones pull out of its franchise agreement with Amazon to re-launch its online business, ''Waterstones.com'', independently. The chain also began to pilot a loyalty programme in South-West England and Wales. The scheme was successful, launching nationally as ''The Waterstones Card'' across its entire shop portfolio. Waterstones piloted a brand refresh exercise in selected shops, beginning with Manchester's Arndale Centre in 2007. On 19 November 2007, the chain closed its first branch on Old Brompton Road. Following a consultation, the company's supply chain was overhauled in 2008, with the implementation of a warehouse and distribution centre in Burton-upon-Trent. Existing direct-to-store deliveries from suppliers were replaced by a centralised warehouse capable of receiving merchandise and sorting an estimated 70 million books per year, and 200 staff were made redundant by the process. In September 2008, Waterstones began selling the Sony Reader in an agreement that saw the booksellers' branches and Sony Centre shops stock the reader exclusively for two weeks after its release. Waterstones.com began to supply
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
s in the .epub format. In November 2009, Waterstones moved into second-hand bookselling in a partnership with
Alibris Alibris is an online store that sells new books, used books, out-of-print books, rare books, and other media through an online network of independent booksellers. History Martin Manley founded Alibris in 1997 with the team behind early ...
setting up an online reselling tool called ''Waterstones Marketplace'', part of Waterstones.com. In January 2010, HMV Group announced that Waterstones like-for-like sales over the Christmas period were down 8.5 per cent on the previous year. This culminated in the resignation of managing director Gerry Johnson, with immediate effect. He was replaced by development director Dominic Myers, who was managing director of the British academic bookselling chain Blackwells until 2005. Myers joined HMV in 2006 to oversee the integration of Ottakar's into the chain. In response to the decline in sales, he implemented a three-year plan in which branches were tailored to their local market alongside a 'rejuvenation' of the company brand and an increase in range. As part of these changes, Waterstones implemented new branding in May 2010, developed by agency VentureThree. The company also moved to support the Rainbow Trust, which provides support to children with life-threatening and terminal illnesses and their families, in the same year. After an announcement that profits would be at the lower end of analysts' forecasts due to falling sales and a share price fall of 20%, HMV Group indicated its intention to close a number of Waterstones branches in January 2011. These shop closures, including two in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Republic of Ireland and nine others across the United Kingdom occurred in February 2011. Further branch closures in
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
,
Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...
,
Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
,
Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...
,
Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
and Norwich Arcade were completed by the end of 2011.


Alexander Mamut & James Daunt: 2011–present

In May 2011, HMV Group announced the sale of Waterstones to A&NN Capital Fund Management, a fund controlled by Russian businessman
Alexander Mamut Alexander Leonidovich Mamut (; born 29 January 1960) is a Russian-Israeli billionaire, oligarch, lawyer, banker and investor. Until 2020, he was a co-owner of Rambler Group. In June 2022, ''Forbes'' estimated Mamut's net worth at $2 billion. ...
for £53 million. The takeover was welcomed by publishers as "a step forward to re-establishing a proper physical presence". On 29 June 2011, the sale of Waterstones was completed and approved by the vast majority of shareholders at an emergency general meeting. Mamut appointed James Daunt, founder of
Daunt Books Daunt Books is an independent chain of bookshops in England, founded in 1990 by James Daunt. It originally specialised in travel books. In 2010, it began publishing. James Daunt later became the managing director of Waterstones and the US book ...
, as managing director and, in October 2011, a board of directors was announced, including Miranda Curtis as chairman. In September 2011, the bookseller announced that it intended to drop its 3-for-2 deal on books after a decade. The offer was replaced with a "bespoke offer", based on branches choosing their own pricing structures from available discounts. In January 2012, the company announced that it would be moving away from the branding developed in 2010 by agency VentureThree, and reverting to its original logo. This involved the removal of the apostrophe from its name because, James Daunt argued, "Waterstones without an apostrophe is, in a digital world of URLs and email addresses, a more versatile and practical spelling". This decision received media coverage, in which the company was subject to criticism. John Richards, of the Apostrophe Protection Society, said that the change was "just plain wrong" and "grammatically incorrect" while the move sparked outrage on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, involving debate on whether the move was grammatically incorrect or not. Linguist
David Crystal David Crystal, (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist who works on the linguistics of the English language. Crystal studied English at University College London and has lectured at Bangor University and the University of Reading. He was aw ...
on his blog added: " ... if Waterstone's wants to become Waterstones, that's up to the firm. It's nothing to do with expressing possession or plurality or anything to do with meaning." In the same month, Waterstones confirmed plans to open a Russian-language bookshop in its Piccadilly branch, intending to stock 5,000 titles, with the shop being entirely staffed by Russian-speaking booksellers. The concession, named ''The Russian Bookshop'', opened in March 2012. Following a decision in late 2011 to scrap an e-reading offer in-branch, it was announced in May 2012 that Waterstones would be selling the
Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking ...
across its estate. James Daunt launched the new agreement with
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
stating that Waterstones would be offering "e-reading services and offer Kindle digital devices" throughout the company's branches and on its website, with an intention to "make the Kindle experience better". This announcement was received with surprise across the book industry as it had been suggested that Waterstones was developing a partnership with
Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...
to launch the Nook in the UK, or that the company was developing its own device, but Daunt "ultimately rejected" other avenues as Waterstones "would have been out of the market" before their implementation. It was also announced in May 2012 that the company would begin a refurbishment plan, with Mamut "investing tens of millions of pounds" to fund the refit of a planned 100 shops before the end of the year. The plan saw the introduction of wi-fi into shops, reorganisation of shop sections and space dedicated areas for Kindle devices, and a number of own-brand coffee shops called ''Café W''. The Café W brand was trialled in the
Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...
branch, with an expressed aim for around 130 shops over a three-year period to be fitted with a café. The announcement also noted the introduction of a "click-and-collect" service. The Amazon Kindle officially launched in-branch in October 2012 with an "outdoor and press advertising campaign" promoting the launch, with the
Kindle Fire The Amazon Fire, formerly called the Kindle Fire, is a line of tablet computers developed by Amazon. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was first released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS tech ...
and
Kindle Paperwhite Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon (company), Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wi ...
model going on sale for the first time in the UK along with older models. The Kindles were tailored with Waterstones screensavers, which led to some complaints and customers attempting to return their devices. The release of the Kindle coincided with a relaunch of the company's brand in the same month, pushing the message that the chain was the "nation's leading bookshop" and producing an exclusive anthology, the ''Waterstones Red Anthology'', to help promote the shops. By the end of 2012, the Waterstones estate had shrunk to 288 shops, with "commercial reasons" given for the closure of branches in
Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...
,
Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...
,
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
,
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...
,
High Holborn High Holborn ( ) is a street in Holborn and Farringdon Without, Central London, which forms a part of the A40 route from London to Fishguard. It starts in the west at the eastern end of St Giles High Street and runs past the Kingsway and ...
and
Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...
among others, with staff being redeployed where possible. In 2012, Daunt stated that future expansion was being considered, based on the performance of the company. The accounts for the year to 2012 showed Waterstones, prior- and post-acquisition had made losses of £37.3 million. An overhaul of the company's business strategy started in 2012, with centralised decision-making giving way to shop-based decisions and a renewed emphasis on traditional bookselling techniques. Waterstones embarked on a major restructuring of staffing levels, with a company-wide consultation with 560 managerial staff to subsequently reduce roles within the company. This consultation led to Head Office staff departures and around 200 branch and regional managers leaving their posts. Waterstones launched a number of new partnerships through the year, including with the
University of Derby The University of Derby, formerly known as Derby College, is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the training of schoolmistresses in 1851. It ...
to launch a professional qualification programme for its staff, with the
Folio Society The Folio Society is an independent London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it became an employee ownership trust in 2021. It produces illustrated hardback fine press edit ...
to extend customer reach and stock selection in London-based bookshops, and partnering with a new charity, BookTrust. By the end of 2013, Waterstones had cut its losses to £12.2 million, opened 12 further Café W outlets, and embarked on a capital investment in its shop portfolio of £29.5 million. In 2014, they opened new shops in Ringwood,
Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...
and Southwold, its first branch to be without Waterstones branding, as well as closing shops in
Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...
and
St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...
. Continued business strategy change saw further departures from head office in brand communication and PR and a renewed agency contract for Waterstones' digital marketing with Epiphany. The retailer overhauled its business technology with new algorithms on its website to help personalise the online shopping experience, updated point-of-sale IT and by introducing
contactless payment Contactless payment systems are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC) for making sec ...
in its shops. The retailer partnered with
Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. ( , an abbreviation of its original name, "Air Bed and Breakfast") is an American company operating an online marketplace for short-and-long-term homestays, experiences and services in various countries and regions. It acts as a ...
to hold a one-off "sleepover" for customers in its Piccadilly branch in October 2014 after a customer was accidentally trapped in the
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
branch after closing. Accounts for 2014 saw operating income losses narrow to £3.8 million, but sales slip by 5.9%. The ongoing strategic changes made to the way the business operates included the decision in October 2015, after three years on sale in shops, to remove the Kindle from its offer following "pitiful" sales and handing the retail space over to books. This was followed, after a failed attempt to buy
BlinkBox TalkTalk TV Store (formerly blinkbox) was a UK-based transactional (purchase and rental) video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows computers, games consoles, tablet computers and Smart TVs. Content was generally ...
books from
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
in January 2015, with Waterstones announcing it had sold its e-book business to Rakuten Kobo Inc. in May 2016, subsequently directing customers who had purchased e-books through the retailer to access their e-books via Kobo's eBook site. This sale represented an exit from the e-book and e-reader market for Waterstones after eight years and multiple platforms. The company partnered with
Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...
in 2015 to raise £1 million for those impacted by the Syrian civil war crisis through a nationwide campaign called "Buy Books for Syria". Further changes to shops were made in 2015, with the closure of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
and Birmingham New Street, the opening of The Rye Bookshop and a return to
Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...
. The company reported an operating income of £5.4 million and a further narrowing of losses to £4.5 million from £18.8 million the previous year. In a 2016 interview, Daunt stated that Amazon "defines how Waterstones acts"; further, while Waterstones could not compete with the internet retailer digitally, it could offer a credible alternative, believing there was "a future in physical bookselling". Waterstones continued to look at "fixing the basics" during 2016, such as adjusting shop opening hours and harnessing data from the loyalty card as well as the refurbishment of physical shops, including the Canterbury branch, and work on its e-commerce routes through improvements to product ranking. Shops in
Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...
Plaza,
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
George Street and Reading Oracle were closed,
Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...
Books, Glasgow Fort and
Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tu ...
were opened and Wimbledon and
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
were reopened in new sites. The newly opened shops benefitted from a refreshed brand look, widely welcomed by the book trade. The retailer renewed its partnership with Oxfam to continue to raise money for the Syrian crisis, donating £5 for each "Book of the Month" sold in-shop during November 2016. Daunt made public his concern that the UK EU referendum was likely to impact on company sales due to an expected retail downturn following a 'no' vote. He later noted that sales had remained "buoyant" following the decision to leave the European Union, but remained pessimistic for the future. Accounts show that in the year ending April 2016, Waterstones made its first profit in seven years, of £11.7 million. This included increased profits in Ireland, with sales rising 7% over the year, with the company expressing a desire to open more shops in Ireland. The management board was reduced from seven members to three in August 2016, with the departure of Miranda Curtis and a statement that the future composition was under review. Waterstones announced it had raised £300,000 for BookTrust in three years since partnering, and would continue the partnership for a fourth year. In April 2018, hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation bought a majority stake in the company, leaving
Alexander Mamut Alexander Leonidovich Mamut (; born 29 January 1960) is a Russian-Israeli billionaire, oligarch, lawyer, banker and investor. Until 2020, he was a co-owner of Rambler Group. In June 2022, ''Forbes'' estimated Mamut's net worth at $2 billion. ...
's Lynwood Investments with a minority holding. The sale completed in early June 2018. Daunt remained as chief executive. In 2021, an article in ''The Bookseller'' reported that Waterstones were planning a collaboration with Next to have Waterstones within some Next stores. In April 2022, a new Waterstones within Next in
Martlesham Martlesham is a village in Suffolk, England about two miles (3 km) south-west of Woodbridge, Suffolk, Woodbridge and east of Ipswich. It is often referred to as "old Martlesham" by locals in order to distinguish this old village from the ...
,
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
, was announced. In 2022, Waterstones purchased
Blackwell's Blackwell UK, also known as Blackwell's and Blackwell Group, is a British academic book retailer and library supply service owned by Waterstones. It was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, after whom the chain is named, on Broad Stree ...
, the largest independent bookstore in the UK, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition was done under US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management.


Acquisitions


Dillons (including Hatchards)

Acquired in 1995 by the
Thorn EMI Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI in October 1979, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituen ...
group, Dillons was the UK's second-largest bookseller behind Waterstones and was the bookselling arm of EMI's retail division, which included
HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...
. Dillons had acquired Hatchards. Following the demerger of Thorn and
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
in 1996, the retail arm was divested from the EMI portfolio within a year and spun off into the HMV Media Group, an investment venture between EMI Group and
Advent International Advent International Corporation is an American global private equity firm. It is focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strat ...
private equity group. This venture included HMV, Dillons and Waterstones (the latter bought from
WHSmith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service s ...
for £300 million), combining to make an international entertainment retailer of more than 500 shops. Following a rebuffed takeover attempt in 1997 of WHSmith, Tim Waterstone became part of the deal and by May 1998, following the £801 million-deal completion became chairman of the group. All Dillons shops were incorporated within the Waterstones brand by 1998.


Ottakar's

In September 2005, HMV Group began attempts to buy rival book chain Ottakar's. This alarmed publishers and authors, who hoped the
Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economi ...
would refer the takeover bid to the
Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...
. In March 2006, the Competition Commission cleared Waterstones for takeover of the Ottakar's, stating that the takeover would "not result in a substantial lessening of competition", and is "not likely to affect book prices, range of titles offered or quality of service". Through extensive research, they also found that "contrary to widespread perception, Waterstones, like Ottakar's, operates a book-buying system which mixes central and local input on stock selection." On 31 May 2006, Waterstones announced that it had successfully negotiated the takeover of Ottakar's. HMV chief executive Alan Giles said: "A combined Waterstones and Ottakar's business will create an exciting, quality bookseller, able to respond better to the increasingly competitive pressures of the retail market." Ottakar's chairman Philip Dunne said: "Over the last year the book market has undergone a significant change with new levels of competition from the supermarkets and online retailers impacting all specialist booksellers and in particular those with insufficient scale to compete on equal terms." Following the takeover, HMV announced that they would be rebranding every branch of Ottakar's as a Waterstones. In July 2006, a conversion programme was initiated and within four months, every Ottakar's shop had been relaunched as a Waterstones and had seen the loss of 100 jobs.


Books Etc

In August 2008, the now-defunct Borders chain agreed to sell eight Books Etc. shops to Waterstones for an undisclosed sum. The takeover, which represented of retail space and incurred no staff losses, increased Waterstones' presence within London to almost 50 shops, "crucially nareas that are not represented by Waterstones bookshops". The shops, in
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...
, London Wall,
Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...
,
Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...
,
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
,
Finchley Road Finchley Road is a designated arterial road in north-west London, England. The Finchley Road starts in St John's Wood near central London as part of the A41 road, A41; its southern half is a major dual carriageway with high traffic levels oft ...
and
Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...
, were rebranded and merged into the Waterstones chain by September 2008.


Foyles

In September 2018, Waterstones confirmed it would buy 115-year-old
Foyles Foyles, a trading name of Waterstones Booksellers Limited (formerly W & G Foyle Ltd.), is a bookseller with a chain of seven stores in England. It is best known for its flagship store in Charing Cross Road, London. Foyles was once listed in ...
, with seven stores, while retaining the brand. James Daunt said the purchase would help "to protect and champion the pleasures of real bookshops in the face of Amazon's siren call".


Blackwell's

In February 2022, Waterstones acquired Blackwell's for an undisclosed sum.


Controversies


Tax

Tim Waterstone and James Daunt have been critical of tax avoidance by
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
in the British press. Amazon has received sustained scrutiny for the amount of its overall sales that are reported by its UK subsidiary, in comparison to those "processed offshore in
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
to avoid UK tax". In the 2012–13 financial year, Amazon paid £3.2 million in tax on sales of £4.2 billion and received £2.5 million in grants from the government. In the same period, it was revealed that Waterstones paid £11.9 million in tax, despite an operating loss of £25.4 million and sales of £410.4 million. In a report on tax avoidance in the book industry, the magazine Ethical Consumer argued that A&NN Capital Fund Management, Waterstones' parent company in
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
, "likely to be for tax avoidance purposes". (in the special report "Buying books without Amazon"). In response to this, Waterstones issued a clarification on their website reading "As a UK registered and domiciled business, Waterstones fulfils all its tax obligations. This will include both the payment and reporting of all necessary UK taxes, as set out under UK tax legislation." In the 2013–14 financial period, the first full year under A&NN, Waterstones reported sales to
Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, co ...
of £398.5 million and an operating loss of £12.2 million.


Non-branded shops

Waterstones opened its first non-branded shop in
Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the North Sea, in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth, Suffolk, River Blyth in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ...
,
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in July 2014 called Southwold Books. The company decided not to use its branding as it wished to 'fit in' with the town's high proportion of independent retailers, but this move drew anger from local residents at the time as they viewed the move as "dishonest" and said that local shop rents were being increased because of retail chains moving in and this subsequently was "changing the character of the high street". Non-branded Waterstones became an issue again in 2016 at a national level, following newspaper reports about not only Southwold Books but two further shops, The Rye Bookshop in
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
and Harpenden Books in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
, being opened and local residents not realising the connection with the retailer. Commentators were split on the ethics of the decision to open unbranded shops, but it was noted that at no point had attempts been made to hide the connection to the retailer. In interviews, James Daunt denied any "subterfuge" and said he wanted for the shops to behave as independent retailers do and have their own identity. He further stated that more unbranded shops were likely to open in the future.


Environmental impact

Waterstones has worked with the British Safety Council to consider its environmental impact, including factors beyond its carbon footprint. After a 2008 audit, the Council awarded Waterstones three out of a possible five stars for environmental impact.


Real living wage

, Waterstones does not pay the "real living wage", as recommended by the
Living Wage Foundation The Living Wage Foundation is a campaigning organisation in the United Kingdom which aims to persuade employers to pay a living wage. The organisation was established in 2011; it publishes an annual Living Wage figure and for a fee accredits emp ...
, and a rate significantly higher than the official
National Living Wage The National Living Wage is an obligatory minimum wage payable to workers in the United Kingdom aged 21 and over which came into effect on 1 April 2016. it is £12.21 per hour. It was implemented at a significantly higher rate than the national ...
. More than 1,300 writers backed a campaign to ask Waterstones to pay the "real living wage". In response Waterstone managing director James Daunt said the company was "simply not profitable enough" and that "there's a long gap between wanting to do something and it being remotely sensible". Waterstones said that only
Ikea IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...
, Majestic and Lush or other similar large retailers pay the "real living wage".


Awards

Waterstones maintains and supports various literary awards, including the Waterstones Book of the Year, the
Waterstones Children's Book Prize The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is the ...
, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, Waterstones Irish Book of the Year, the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize, and the Waterstones Children's Laureate, as well as now-defunct awards including the Waterstones 11 and the
Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspa ...
. The company has also received various industry and consumer awards.


Waterstones prizes


Book of the Year

The prize, which has been running since 2012, sees booksellers from across the company select a shortlist of books from any category, published at any time, before the winner is chosen by panel.


Children's Book Prize

Waterstones continued the Ottakar's Children's Book Prize under its own brand and since 2005, the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize has attempted "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" by awarding authors with no more than two previously published books (adult or children's fiction). Waterstones is also the main sponsor of ''The Waterstones
Children's Laureate Children's Laureate, now known as the Waterstones Children's Laureate, is a position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field". The rol ...
'', previously sponsored by Ottakar's. The 2011–2013 role saw the position carry the Waterstones branding for the first time, with the company stating it was 'up weighting tsactivity' and 'supporting the role in shops and online in different ways throughout the year and beyond.' Holders of the role during sponsorship include Julia Donaldson, Malorie Blackman and the current holder, Chris Riddle.


Debut Fiction Prize

The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, established in 2022, is an annual literary award presented to the best debut fiction published in the previous 12 months.


Irish Book of the Year


Waterstones 11

Set up in 2011, the Waterstones 11 was created to promote debut literary fiction from new authors being published in the year ahead. Books were chosen from a list of 100 submitted by publishers, and were announced in January 2011 with in-shop and online support, as well as a media campaign for the final 11. The inaugural 11 included the
Orange Prize The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...
winner '' The Tiger's Wife'' by Téa Obreht,
Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...
nominee ''Pigeon English'', by Stephen Kelman and the
Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place during two weeks in August every year in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Described as ''The largest festival of its kind in the world'', the festival hosts ...
First Book Award winner '' When God Was a Rabbit'' by
Sarah Winman Sarah Winman (born 24 December 1964) is a British author and actress. Biography In 2011, Winman's debut novel, '' When God Was a Rabbit'' (2011), became an international bestseller and won Winman several awards including New Writer of the Yea ...
. The last list was announced in January 2013, followed by the discontinuation of the prize in January 2014.


Locations

Waterstones has academic and high-street shops in Europe including in: *
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
(under the Waterstones and other brands throughout England, Scotland and Wales) *
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
(under the Waterstones brand in Ballymena, Belfast, Coleraine, Cork, Craigavon, Derry, Drogheda, Enniskillen, Lisburn and Newry, and under the Hodges Figgis brand in Dublin) * The
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
*
Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
* The
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
*
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
Some branches in the company occupy buildings of architectural and historical interest. Flagship superstores Its flagship shop on
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
, formerly the Simpsons of Piccadilly department store and notable for its 1930s-Modernist architecture, is the largest shop in the Waterstones estate and claimed to be the largest bookshop in Europe. The main academic branch, formerly the flagship shop of Dillons, is located on Gower Street, between
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
and the
Student Central The University of London Union (ULU), known as Student Central after 2014, was the students' union of the federal University of London. Since the closure of its student governance, each student is instead primarily affiliated to a students' unio ...
, and promoted as Europe's largest academic bookshop. Aside from these branches, Waterstones operates a number of large shops which are set over multiple floors. Waterstones refers to these shops as 'superstores': * Piccadilly, London (formerly Simpsons of Piccadilly) – flagship branch with six floors and an estimated miles of shelving. In 2012, the head office of the company was moved to the shop. * Gower Street, London – academic branch with five floors and 5 miles of shelving * Sidney Street,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
– set over four floors, and containing two cafes. * Albion Street, Leeds set over three floors * College Lane, Liverpool – two floors, including the largest open-plan floor of books in Europe. * Deansgate, Manchester – three floors, with over 100,000 books in stock. * Milsom Street, Bath, Milsom Street, Bath, Somerset, Bath – three floors, with over 55,000 books in stock. * La Scala Cinema, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow – five floors, set in a former cinema * Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham – five floors Shops of architectural and historical interest * Hodges Figgis,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
(oldest bookshop in Ireland, founded in 1768) * Kalverstraat, Amsterdam, designed by Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Hendrick Petrus Berlage * Wool Exchange, Bradford, Wool Exchange, Bradford * High Street, Birmingham, formerly Times Furniture Company * Dolphin & Anchor, West Street, Chichester, * West End Princes Street,
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
* Corn Exchange, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, * Emerson Chambers, Newcastle upon Tyne * William Baker House, Cornmarket St, Oxford * Fishergate, Preston, Lancashire, Preston, formerly Booths grocery and head office * Broad Street, Reading, Broad Street, Reading, Berkshire, Reading, formerly Broad Street Independent Chapel, Reading, Broad Street Independent Chapel * The Tontines Building, Parliament Row, Stoke-on-Trent * The Carlton Cinema, Swansea File:Simpsons of Piccadilly 2005.jpg, London Simpsons of Piccadilly, Piccadilly flagship branch File:Waterstones, Kensington High Street, London W8 - geograph.org.uk - 667585.jpg, High Street
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
branch, near the original Old Brompton Road branch File:Wool Exchange (7366226550).jpg, The Wool Exchange, Bradford, Wool Exchange in Bradford has been converted into a Waterstones. File:Hodges Figgis.jpg, Hodges Figgis, Dublin


See also

* Books in the United Kingdom * Hatchards


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1982 establishments in England 2011 mergers and acquisitions 2018 mergers and acquisitions Book selling websites Bookshops of the United Kingdom Bookstores established in the 20th century British booksellers British brands British companies established in 1982 Ebook suppliers Private equity portfolio companies Retail companies established in 1982 Retail companies of the United Kingdom