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TBP: 2011 to be "year of growth"

04.10.11 | Lisa Campbell

The Book People has said it forecasts sales growth within 2011, after its most recent set of accounts showed a decline in sales and profit.

For the year ending 31st December 2010, sales were down from £71.9m to £69.6m. Operating profit was down from £2.3m to £1.3m. However, this included a £2.2m exceptional write-off of debt owed to another part of the business.

Book People c.e.o. Seni Glaister said: "We have taken some very important steps that will stand us in good stead for future growth over the next five years. 2011 is absolutely a year of growth.”

TBP has made six recruitments this year, recently hiring former Waterstone’s children’s range buyer Claudia Mody as a buyer for its children’s consumer-facing book club Red House.

Glaister said that while TBP had “no demand” from its customers for digital books, which set it apart from market changes affecting other retailers, she believed the company’s business model would continue to be sustainable.

She added: “I think [the catalogue bookselling business] is as relevant as it has always been. We are picking books and recommending them to our customers. It is a narrow selection but the books we pick we believe in passionately . . . We are going into our autumn 2011 comfortable. Now it is all to play for in the run-up to Christmas.”

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