In the midst of the grimmest recession that most of us will have lived through, with belt tightening the order of the day, expansion might be the last thing on the mind of most in the book trade. But history shows that tough times often lead to the gestation of new business ideas and opportunities, particularly for small and medium-size...

Amazon will not launch its Kindle e-book reader in the UK until after Christmas as it attempts to sign up Wi-Fi partners around Europe, it has been revealed.

Rumours that Amazon.com was poised to launch the device in Europe—with the Frankfurt Book Fair the launch venue—have been circulating. However, fair-goers hoping for an...

It used to be difficult to find the books in most Woolworths shops—they seemed to be hidden somewhere among the pick-’n’-mix, bargain CDs and inexpensive Worth It home electricals.

No longer. Since hiring former W H Smith and Borders book buyer Matt Bridge in October last year, Woolworths has moved to boost sales by...

Just four years ago, few in the book trade would have taken much notice of Play.com. The online retailer, founded in 1998, focused on selling CDs and DVDs mainly to young, tech-savvy men. That changed in 2004 when the Jersey-based business started selling books. It has since quietly built itself into the UK’s second-biggest online books...