The Book People: 155 jobs lost at struggling business
The bookseller went into administration in December but a buyer has not been found. …
Image copyright Portland Press Herald More than 150 jobs have been lost at online book retailer The Book People after it went into administration in December.
Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were appointed on 16 December, but a new buyer has not been found and 155 people have been made redundant.
The company will continue to trade online and PwC said it intends to fulfil and deliver all orders.
The firm has offices in Bangor, Gwynedd, and Godalming, Surrey.
The business was founded in Godalming in 1998 and employed 393 people at the time it was placed in administration.
Administrators said 82 of the 142 staff at the Bangor office have been made redundant.
The firm sold books, gifts, toys and stationery online and via a catalogue, often at discounted prices. It had an annual turnover of £50m and sells more than 17 million children’s books a year.
The company, one of the UK’s largest independent book retailers, was acquired as part of a rescue deal in 2014 by private equity group Endless.
Toby Underwood, from PwC, said: “This is a tough time for everybody associated with the much-loved book brand. Despite best efforts in exploring a sale of the business, it has not been possible to do so. It is therefore with regret that we have had to make a number of redundancies today.”
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