BA Advisory Council Members

My wife Juliette and I opened Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath in 2006. We had blind faith on our side though, having come to the industry as a career change, and a desire to spend our lives working with and around books. 12 years on and we now have a team of 10 brilliant booksellers helping us run our labyrinthine and sometimes eccentric shop, our website and our various reading gifts. And we get to do all that in the midst of a resurgent indie sector with bookshops looking well placed to be lynchpins in our redefined high streets.
 

I’m Managing Director at Dubray in Ireland, a family-owned chain of eight stores.

I love the collegiate nature of the book trade, the shared passions and the fact that thanks to our ever changing product we are always learning and our work is never, EVER dull.

Along with my wife, Victoria, I opened branches of Rossiter Books in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire in 2010, in Monmouth, Monmouthshire in 2011 and in Leominster, Herefordshire in 2018. I am a member of both the BA Council and the BA’s Independent Booksellers Forum.

Before starting as an independent, I was a chain bookseller and manager for 24 years: I’ve managed Waterstones and Ottakar’s stores, including Plymouth, Portsmouth, Manchester Deansgate and Cardiff. 

I have been with WHSmith since 2004 and within the books industry on and off since 2009. After a few roles within Books, I moved in 2016 to run our Post Office business.  However, books were never far from my heart and in December 2017 I came back.

I am privileged to be a part of the bookseller community and the BA Council. My  aim is that we all  - whether independent shops or multi-national companies - have an equal share of voice, and that we are evolving and making the right decisions to future-proof all of us as a book industry.

I look after ASDA’s books business and I’m passionate about increasing access to books and engaging underserved elements of society with books and reading.  I see the BA as a great vehicle to stimulate discussion and understanding throughout the bookselling community, and also as a way for us to engage with publishers, government and our customers with a single voice.  Having been a voracious reader since before I can remember, I love the fact that people now send me books and that my job now revolves around selecting, buying, discussing and selling books.

I’m General Manager of the Eason flagship store in Dublin and Chair of Bookselling Ireland. I sit on the BA Council to represent the Irish trade in general.

I only joined the book industry in the last three years and what I love about the industry is the determination, drive and passion from booksellers, publishers and authors alike. 

Prior to joining The JS Group, I spent 10 years working in a variety of roles at Borders and I love the variety and the sense of purpose in bookselling – when you speak to booksellers and publishers, most joined or stayed because they feel they are making a difference and bringing joy or improvement.

In my current role I enjoy seeing our business making a positive impact on student’s experience of University and outcomes – that is hugely satisfying.

I own the award-winning Hungerford Bookshop in West Berkshire with my husband. I have been a bookseller there for twelve years, and before that spent eight years at Waterstones. I set up Hungerford Literary Festival and am also director of Arts for Hungerford. I have been a judge for the Costa Book Awards, and the Joan Hessayon Awards for New Writers. 

I really enjoy being on the BA Advisory Council. Small bookshops are allowed as much of a voice as larger companies, and it's very rewarding helping to shape policy that strives to keep bookshops alive and healthy in changing and sometimes challenging times. I've always felt that there is real energy and commitment to getting things done, and it’s great to be a part of that.

Being an indie bookseller is a wonderful challenge. And being a specialist children’s bookseller is simply glorious! The children’s market is so full of superb books, from board books to YA, that being part of this world is a real privilege. 

As a member of the BA Council, I get to leave my little bubble and find out what’s going on in the rest of the bookish world. 

Having been a bookseller for over 20 years, I am currently Publisher Liaison and Press Manager at Waterstones. After joining the company in 2004, I worked in various roles in Waterstones shops before joining the Head Office team in 2012.  

I’ve always believed that bookshops play an incredibly important role on the high street. They champion authors and reading, create access to books and events and often work closely with schools, libraries and local businesses. Bookshops are invaluable cultural hubs for their local community.

I took over the Children's Bookshop in 2016, having already worked there for five years. I love being a part of a bookish conversation with children, and helping them find a book that can lead to the next.

The bookshop has been here since 1974, and plays its part in the local community, with author events in schools, book clubs, and pre-school events during the week.

I bought Sevenoaks Bookshop (est. 1948) since November 2015, purchasing the shop after working there part time and running the bookshop writers’ group.

Before bookselling, I trained in photography and worked in the fashion industry as a photographers’ agent.

I’ve been in the trade for over twenty years with one brief stint outside working as Head of Online for video games retailer GAME. I’ve worked for WHSmith Retail, Ottakar’s, Book Club Associates, Methven’s, Waterstones, BookRabbit, MD of The Book Depository and now as Digital Director at Blackwell’s. I’m going for the full book industry experience.

Bookselling for me is a craft: it may sound clichéd but I believe we have a huge and valuable purpose in providing social spaces, in defending free speech and in connecting people with all of human knowledge (and the latest blockbuster).

I have worked at Foyles for nearly 20 yrs, starting as a bookseller in the Biography and Hardback Fiction section, then in several shopfloor positions at Foyles on Charing Cross Rd: Head of Fiction, Ground-floor Manager then to a Head Office role of Senior Buyer.  I then became Head of Buying with responsibility for publisher relations as well as sitting on the senior management team reporting to the Foyles Board of Directors. 

I also sit on the World Book Day steering committee.

In 2009, I set up my own book company with a focus on out of print books and creating special gift edition books. My specialist book trade knowledge includes special sales, gift edition books, boxsets and online market places trading.

I also have over 25 years’ experience working in the voluntary and community sector, helping to build a strong third sector within various charitable institutions, winning awards such as the Queen’s Jubilee Award, National CSV Volunteer of the Year and Leicester Citizen of the Year.

I own three independent bookshops in Sherborne, Sidmouth and Frome. What still excites me every day is how relevant bookshops, especially independent bookshops, are to communities and customers today: with a diminishing high street and the dehumanising experience of online retail, customers value us more.

Having an energetic trade organisation and like-minded members just makes the business of bookselling more pleasurable

.I have been a member of the BA Council for nearly four years and in that time I am have been amazed at how much work the Council puts into supporting the wider book community.   This varied and historic industry we work in keeps me hooked and intrigued. Bookselling is in a good place right now and that is down to the hard work all within this industry put in. 

This has resonated recently with the economic reports showing how much income bookselling brings to the UK and Ireland!  I am proud to be part of this great community.