The Bookseller.com

20th November 2008

Premier appoints administrator

16.06.08 Philip Jones

Premier Direct, the direct bookseller, has gone into administration and has admitted that its shareholders are unlikely to see much of a return on their investment. The news follows the suspension of the company's shares on 8th May and the appointment of troubleshooter Aidan Scott Condie to the board. A number of publishers have already stopped trading with the company.

According to an announcement, the business had run out of financial and strategic options, and appointed joint administrators, Simon Wilson and Scott Gaillie of Kroll, with the aim of undertaking a review of the company's assets. It added: "The board does not believe that there is likely to be any value realised for shareholders."

Premier Direct has a sales network of more than 520 distributors who sell into schools, hospitals, local authorities and local businesses. But its sales fell by £2m to £10.7m in the six months to end-January 2008, compared to the same period last year. It admitted shortly after Christmas that it needed to raise cash after over-buying festive stock at Christmas.

Philip Jones administration Premier Direct Home The Book People

Comments on this article