The Bookseller.com

28th August 2008

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SSG to sell four shops

21.04.08 Graeme Neill

Beleaguered Christian bookseller St Stephen the Great is to sell four of its stores in an auction next month. Freeholds for the Bradford, Canterbury, Exeter and York shops will be auctioned off by real estate company Colliers Cre on 13th May.

Colliers did not give guide prices for the shops. According to the most recent accounts from Christian publisher SPCK, which transferred ownership of the chain to St Stephen the Great in October 2006, the freeholds on the stores formerly owned by SPCK were worth £1.67m.

SSG operates 20 branches within Great Britain. It rents six freeholds from SPCK for a nominal sum. Since brothers Mark and Phil Brewer took control of the business, a number of staff have resigned from the company, and several branches have closed.

Retail Graeme Neill SPCK SSG