Rise to Prominence
In January 1986, Keith Danby was made chief executive of STL. Danby had a background in finance and by introducing stock catalogues, a free telephone number and next-day deliveries he increased turnover by 52% in one year. In 1988 he set up an independent board for STL which separated it from the governance of OM, and the following year the company relocated to Carlisle. In the 1990s STL began to expand its interests.
In 1992 an old Christian publisher, Paternoster Press, was acquired, and the first Wesley Owen Books and Music shop was opened in Bromley. The intention was to create a “Christian Waterstone's” which would be more professional than many of the Christian bookshops then found in the UK. The following year STL took over the Church of Scotland shops, the Evangelical Christian Literature (ECL) shops, and the Scripture Union shops. Danby explained that STL’s aim was to show “excellence combined with Christian compassion”.
In 1993 OM released STL to operate as a separate organisation to allow it to concentrate on the publishing and distribution of Christian literature..
In 2001 STL acquired Word UK, which produced books, music and videos. STL became the largest Christian organisation dealing with books in the UK. STL remained a charity, and in 2001 was listed as the 74th largest one in the UK. STL was also the main gateway for several of the biggest American Christian publishers, including Tyndale House, Zondervan, Moody Books, Baker Books, and Multnomah.
Financial difficulties, administration
The last set of financial statements by IBS-STL UK for the year ended 28 February 2009, [1] and approved by the Board on 6 July 2009, refer to having had a "challenging year for the Charity". This had been characterised by "a combination of weak economic conditions in the UK, and a difficult move to the new SAP IT system", leading to a "significant operational loss" for that year. The report highlighted the financial risks which the Charity was exposed to, particularly those associated with loans, leases, and trade debtors and creditors. There was however no indication that these risks would be so severe as to result in the collapse of the business just four months later.
On 16 November 2009 IBS-STL UK announced that due to "a succession of financial problems, in particular the failed implementation of a new SAP computer system in October 2008, the effects of which were exacerbated by the economic downturn" a decision had been taken to "exit the business" at which point a buyer was sought. [2] However, no sale arrangement could be made and IBS STL (UK) formally entered into Administration on 18 December 2009. Two partners from Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery LLP, Manchester, were appointed by the High Court as joint administrators. The ensuing process of administration resulted in the following outcome for the principal trading activities of IBS-STL (UK) :-
STL Distribution
In December 2009 John Ritchie Ltd of Kilmarnock, Scotland, finalised a deal with the Administrators to become the owners of the Christian book distribution and wholesaler business, STL Distribution Ltd. John Ritchie Ltd stated their intention to retain Carlisle as the major base of operation for this business. Keith Danby was replaced by Ken Munro as CEO. [3]
Wesley Owen
At the time the business collapsed, IBS STL (UK) were operating a chain of 41 retail units (bookshops) under the 'Wesley Owen' brand name, situated in various towns and cities throughout the UK. In the months following, a majority of these shops were taken over by other Christian-based companies or charitable trusts leaving only a small number unable to continue trading after no buyers were found.
- Koorong Books of Sydney, Australia, bought the Wesley Owen brand and domain names and took over 8 bookshops at Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Bromley, Coleraine, Derby, Glasgow and York.
- CLC International of Alresford, Hampshire, took over 6 shops at Bolton, Cambridge, Coventry, Guildford, Kingston upon Thames and Stockport.
- Nationwide Christian Trust of Essex took over 19 shops and rebranded them under the trading name Living Oasis. These were at Aberdeen, Bedford, Belfast, Cheltenham, Chester, Edinburgh, Harrogate, Harrow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, South Woodford, Sutton, Watford, Weston-super-Mare and Worthing.
- The three bookshops at Falkirk, Walsall and Woking were taken over by independent traders.
- No buyers were found for the shops at Brighton, Carlisle, Dundee and Macclesfield.
Authentic Book Publishing
Koorong, in addition to purchasing the Wesley Owen brand (see above), also purchased all of the Authentic and Paternoster intellectual property and author contracts and with plans to continue the book publishing business from the existing Authentic base in the Milton Keynes area.
Authentic Music
Kingsway Communications of Eastbourne, East Sussex, bought the music part of the Authentic Media business based in Milton Keynes.
Tijuana bibles were palm-sized erotic comics produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early 1960s. Their popularity peaked during the Great Depression era.
Operation Mobilisation is a Christian missionary organisation founded by George Verwer to mobilise young people to live and share the Gospel of Jesus. OM, started in Mexico and had spread to Europe and India by 1963.
George Verwer was an American evangelist and founder of Operation Mobilisation (OM), a Christian missions organization. Verwer wrote several books on various Christian themes. He was a passionate advocate of radical discipleship as the only legitimate option for people who believe in Jesus. His recent work was in India. Over a million books he authored have been distributed worldwide.
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels, as well as other popular culture products such as toys, games, and apparel from comic book publishers or suppliers to retailers.
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and worldwide.
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of:
Paternoster Press is a British Christian publishing house which was founded by B. Howard Mudditt (1906–1992) in 1936. Mudditt was a Bank of England clerk who decided to move into publishing after seeing the many publishers based on London's Paternoster Row during his lunch hours; the firm was named after the street, and also alluded to the Lord's Prayer. The Irish Times described Paternoster as "a synonym for scholarly, evangelical Christian publications."
Koorong is a Christian bookstore chain operating across Australia. It is the largest retailer of Bibles, Christian books and media in Australia. Koorong currently operates online and at 15 stores across the country.
Gardners’ is an international wholesalers of books, eBooks, music and film. They work with multi-channel retailers worldwide, both online and on the high street, to supply physical and digital products. They offer back to store or direct to consumer on their behalf through a consumer direct fulfilment service.
Bowes & Bowes was a bookselling and publishing company based in Cambridge, England.
Colportage is the distribution of publications, books, and religious tracts by carriers called "colporteurs" or "colporters". The term does not necessarily refer to religious book peddling.
Borders (UK) Ltd., also known as Borders & Books etc., was established as a Borders Group subsidiary in 1998, and in 2007 became independent of the US parent company. At its peak after separation from the US parent, it traded from its 41 Borders and 28 BOOKS etc. shops with over one million square feet of retail space, taking around 8% of the retail bookselling market. In 2008 and 2009 the store numbers were reduced before the collapse of the chain. They also operated one single branch in Ireland, but closed this early in 2009. On 26 November 2009 it was announced that Borders (UK) had gone into administration. All stores closed on 24 December 2009.
Reformers (Reformers Bookshop) is a non-profit Christian wholesaler and bookseller operating in Australasia, plus telephone, internet and mail order worldwide.
Eason Retail PLC, known as Easons or Eason, is an Irish retail company best known for selling books, stationery, cards, gifts, newspapers and magazines. Headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, it is the largest supplier of books, magazines, and newspapers in Ireland.
The Good Book Company (TGBC) is an evangelical Christian publisher, located in Epsom, Surrey, England. They are structured as a large unquoted, private company, limited by share capital. Their practices include publishing, mission outreach and training. The Publisher was declared runner up in the Christian Publisher of the Year Award by the Trade Body for Christian Publishing and Retailing in the UK.
Titan Distributors was a British comic book distributor which existed from 1978 to 1993, when it was acquired by a larger U.S. distributor. Operated by Nick Landau, Mike Lake, and Mike Luckman, Titan Distributors supplied comics, science fiction, and other genre products to retailers all over the United Kingdom. Titan also operated the retailer Forbidden Planet, produced the bimonthly Westminster Comic Marts, and operated Titan Books.
John Hatchard (1769–1849) was an English publisher and bookseller, in Piccadilly, London. The Hatchards bookshop there is still in business.
Publications Distribution Cooperative (PDC) was set up in 1976 to distribute radical, socialist, feminist, green/ecology and community publications in Britain to the book and newsagent trade.
