“TRUE HUBS OF THEIR COMMUNITIES” — RECORD 49 BOOKSHOPS VIE TO BE INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP OF THE YEAR
The British Book Awards, or Nibbies, have revealed the regional shortlists for the 2020 Independent Bookshop of the Year: a record 49 bookshops from nine regions are competing to be named the country’s best indie retailer for books. The shops will compete to win their region first, before vying for the overall prize, to be given out at the British Book Awards ceremony, at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on 18th May.
East of England
Bookmark Spalding | Spalding
Lindum Books | Lincoln
The Book Hive | Norwich
Ireland
Blessington Book Store | Blessington
Philip’s Book Shop | Mallow
Woodbine Books | Kilcullen
London
BrOOK’S | Pinner
Burley Fisher Books | Hackney
Gay’s the Word | St Pancras
Hewson Books: The Kew Bookshop | Kew
Housmans | King’s Cross
Moon Lane Books | Lewisham
Pages of Hackney | Hackney
South Kensington Books | South Kensington
Midlands
Burway Books | Church Stretton
Button & Bear | Shrewsbury
Five Leaves Bookshop | Nottingham
The Borzoi Bookshop | Stow-on-the-Wold
North England
DRAKE - The Bookshop | Stockton-on- Tees
Forum Books | Corbridge
The Little Ripon Bookshop | Ripon
Sam Read Bookseller | Grasmere
The Book Corner | Halifax
The Grove Bookshop | Ilkley
White Rose Book Café | Thirsk
Scotland
Far From the Madding Crowd | Linlithgow
Lighthouse | Edinburgh
The Bookmark | Grantown-on-Spey
The Edinburgh Bookshop | Edinburgh
The Highland Bookshop | Fort William
South East England
Coles Books | Bicester
Hungerford Bookshop | Hungerford
The Margate Bookshop | Margate
Mostly Books | Abingdon
Mrs Middleton’s Shop and The Rabbit Hole | Freshwater, Isle of Wight
The Book Shop | Lee-on-Solent
The Bookshop | East Grinstead
South West England
Falmouth Bookseller | Falmouth
Octavia’s Bookshop | Cirencester
Padstow Bookseller | Padstow
Sarum College Bookshop | Salisbury
Storysmith | Bristol
The Corsham Bookshop | Corsham
White Horse Bookshop | Marlborough
Winstone’s Hunting Raven | Frome
Wales
Book-ish | Crickhowell
The Chepstow Bookshop | Chepstow
Cover to Cover | Swansea
Griffin Books | Penarth
Tom Tivnan, The Bookseller’s managing editor, said: “There has been a resurgence in the last few years for the indie books sector with a growing number of stores and an increased market share. You can see why people are looking more towards indies by the brilliant shops on our regional shortlists. The High Street in general may be struggling but indie bookshops are thriving in this challenging environment because of the expertise of staff — which can beat an Amazon algorithm any day — but also that they are true hubs of their communities.”
Three of last year’s Independent Bookshop of the Year regional winners (Five Leaves, Book-ish, and DRAKE—the Bookshop) are vying to retain their crowns. Nottingham’s Five Leaves, which won the overall gong in 2018, notched a sixth straight year as a regional shortlistee. But there are newcomers on the list, too, including Bristol’s Storysmith and The Margate Bookshop, which began trading in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
There are 16 shops which have previously won regions, including two-time champs The Edinburgh Bookshop (Scotland), Book-ish (Wales) and Forum Books (North England).
The winners of each region will be announced on 20th March, with those nine shops then battling for the top prize at the Nibbies ceremony on 18th May. Sponsor Gardners Books will once again present the overall winner with a cheque for £5,000 to be put towards the running of the shop.
Tom Tivnan said: “It is really heartening to see the spread of the shortlisted shops, not just geographically but in longevity: there are businesses that have been mainstays for decades, such as Philip’s Book Shop in Mallow or the Chepstow Bookshop — and are still just as creative and passionate as the day they started. But there are also the newcomers like BrOOKs in Pinner and Bristol’s Storysmith which are bringing fresh blood and energy to the sector.”
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www.thebookseller.com/british-book-awards
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Notes to Editors
About the British Book Awards
The British Book Awards, or Nibbies, has been the leading awards for the book trade since 1990. Celebrating the best books, the best bookshops and the best publishers it is supported by all major industry associations including The Publishers Association, The Booksellers Association and the Independent Publishers Guild. Judged by leading industry experts it is regarded as “the BAFTAs of the book trade”.
About The Bookseller
The Bookseller has been the weekly business magazine for the book trade since 1858. It runs The British Book Awards, the YA Book Prize, The Bookseller Podcast, the Futurebook Live conference, two other market-leading conferences and websites www.thebookseller.com, www.booksinthemedia.com and www.bookgig.com.
