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Bertrams enters administration

In the UK, wholesaler Bertrams has gone into administration and will be making company-wide redundancies, reports the Bookseller.

As previously reported, Bertrams was put up for sale in May after its future was described as being ‘at risk’ earlier that month.

In a statement, administrator Turpin Barker Armstrong said book wholesalers have suffered from falling demand due to changing distribution model for books and the rising popularity of ebooks.

‘These factors, combined with the Covid-19-related closure of many public libraries and educational facilities, meant these businesses could no longer operate viably,’ Turpin Barker Armstrong said, adding that the majority of employees had been made redundant, with a small number retained to wind down operations.

Administrators have made in-principle sales of Bertrams’ ‘tangible assets and unencumbered stock’, while the wholesaler’s remaining assets and facilities—including an inventory of nearly 300,000 books—will be auctioned off in July.

Numerous publishers are reportedly owed money by Bertrams, with invoices that pre-date the pandemic. Galley Beggar Press co-founder Sam Jordison told the Bookseller he fears he is unlikely to be repaid. ‘It is pretty maddening that they’ve cost so many of us so much—and so unnecessarily,’ Jordison said. ‘But there’s nothing to celebrate in their demise. It’s sad for the trade and everyone who works there. I hope something can be rescued from the ashes—although I’m not particularly optimistic.’

 

Category: International news