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Wikipedia

Waterstones

August 27, 2023

This article is about the British book retailer. For stones used to sharpen steel tools, see sharpening stone.

Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's) is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries.[4] As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe.[5] An average-sized Waterstones shop sells a range of approximately 30,000 individual books,[3] as well as stationery and other related products.

Waterstones Booksellers Ltd.
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail
Bookshop
FoundedOld Brompton Road, London, 1982; 41 years ago (1982)
FounderTim Waterstone
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Number of locations
311 shops (June 2022)[1]
Area served
United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands
Key people
James Daunt (MD)
ProductsBooks, stationery
Revenue £399.8 million (2022)[2]
Number of employees
3,500[3]
ParentElliott Management Corporation
Websitewww.waterstones.com

Established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone, after whom the company was named, the bookseller expanded rapidly until being sold in 1993 to WHSmith.[6] In 1998, Waterstones was bought by a consortium of Waterstone, EMI and Advent International.[7] The company was taken under the umbrella of HMV Group, which later merged the Dillons and Ottakar's brands into the company.[6] Following several poor sets of results for the group, HMV put the chain up for sale. In May 2011, it was announced that A&NN Capital Fund Management, owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, had bought the chain for £53.5m[8] and appointed James Daunt as managing director.[9] The company is incorporated in England and Wales as Waterstones Booksellers Ltd, with its registered office at 203–206 Piccadilly, London (which is also the location of its flagship shop). As well as the Waterstones brand, the company owns the London bookseller Hatchards,[10] Irish shop Hodges Figgis,[10] and reached an agreement to purchase Foyles in 2018.[11] In April 2018, hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation bought a majority stake in the company.

The bookseller has concession agreements with Paperchase and previously with coffee chains Costa Coffee and Starbucks in some shops, but since 2012 has introduced its own Café W brand.[12] For a time, Waterstones sold e-readers, including in 2012 partnering with Amazon to sell the Amazon Kindle,[13] but has since pulled out of this market for commercial reasons.[14]

Waterstones administers and supports various literary awards, including the Children's Laureate award[15] and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.[16]

History and developments Edit

 
Early versions of shop signage were gold in colour

Formation & WHSmith: 1982–1998 Edit

The chain was founded by Tim Waterstone after he took a[17][18] £6,000 redundancy payout from WHSmith. He set up his first shop in Old Brompton Road, Kensington with the ambition of creating a 'different breed of bookshop', using techniques he had seen in the United States.[17] He used literary authors in front of shop displays and employed highly literate staff.[19]

The model proved successful and the chain set about expanding its shop portfolio. In 1990 WHSmith took a strong minority stake in the chain, and ten years after its birth, by 1992, Waterstone's had grown to be the largest bookseller group in Europe. WHSmith[19] then acquired the company in 1993 at an enterprise value of £47m, paying £5.27 a share on 8.1m 10p shares, a 53x multiple for the early-stage investors.[20] Under WHSmith, Waterstones pursued international expansion, opening its first US shop in Boston in 1991,[7] as well as further domestic expansion—opening its 100th UK shop in a former chapel in Reading.[7]

The chain was part of the eventual dismantling of the Net Book Agreement, when in 1991, following a promotion by then-rivals Dillons, the company decided to pursue its own discounting promotion on selected titles.[21] By 1997, the agreement had collapsed and been declared illegal.[22]

HMV Group: 1998–2011 Edit

 
Waterstones in Wakefield occupies the city's former HMV branch.

Following an attempt by Tim Waterstone in 1997 to buy the entire WHSmith group,[citation needed] WHSmith sold the Waterstones chain for £300 million to HMV Media plc (now HMV Group)—a joint venture between EMI, Advent International and Tim Waterstone.[7] This included high street brands HMV and rival Dillons, creating an international entertainment retailer. Waterstone was appointed chairman of the group but stood down in 2001, citing "concerns for the way the company was being run" [20] and was replaced by Alan Giles.[23] A year later, all Dillons shops were rebranded as Waterstones, with some sold to rival Ottakar's making the brand defunct. The chain had also begun pulling out of its US overseas venture.[24]

Waterstones launched the Waterstones Books Quarterly magazine in 2001, containing book reviews and author interviews. In the same year the booksellers' online operation, Waterstones.co.uk, was franchised to Amazon.com, with the company expressing a desire "to concentrate on its high street and campus shops". The move resulted in the loss of 50 jobs.[25] In 2003, Waterstones announced it was supporting Dyslexia Action as its chosen charity, helping to raise awareness and understanding for dyslexia.[26]

 
Waterstones logo until 2010

In 2006 Giles stepped down from his position and was replaced by Gerry Johnson as managing director of Waterstones[27] and Simon Fox as group CEO.[28] In April 2006 following two bids by Permira for the group, Tim Waterstone attempted to buy back the company from HMV for £256 million,[29] but later withdrew his offer specifying the conditions set by HMV were "too punitive" to accept.[30] A strategic review in September saw Waterstones pull out of its franchise agreement with Amazon to re-launch its online business, Waterstones.com, independently.[31] The chain also began to pilot a loyalty programme in South West England and Wales. The scheme was successful, launching nationally as The Waterstones Card across its entire shop portfolio.[32]

Waterstones piloted a brand refresh exercise in selected shops, beginning with Manchester's Arndale Centre in 2007.[33] On 19 November 2007, the chain closed its first branch on Old Brompton Road.[34] Following a consultation, the company's supply chain was overhauled in 2008 with the implementation of a 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m2) warehouse and distribution centre in Burton-upon-Trent. Existing direct-to-store deliveries from suppliers were replaced by a centralised warehouse capable of receiving merchandise and sorting an estimated 70 million books per year and 200 staff were made redundant by the process.[35][36] In September 2008, Waterstones began selling the Sony Reader in an agreement which saw the booksellers' branches and Sony Centre shops stock the reader exclusively for two weeks after its release. Waterstones.com began to supply e-books in the .epub format.[37] In November 2009, Waterstones moved into second-hand bookselling in a partnership with Alibris setting up an online reselling tool called Waterstones Marketplace, part of Waterstones.com.[38]

 
A re-branding saw the logo change from Baskerville to FS Albert Pro until 2012.

In January 2010, HMV Group announced that Waterstones like-for-like sales over the Christmas period were down 8.5 per cent on the previous year. This culminated in the resignation of managing director Gerry Johnson with immediate effect.[39] He was replaced by development director Dominic Myers, who was managing director of the British academic bookselling chain Blackwells until 2005.[40] Myers joined HMV in 2006 to oversee the integration of Ottakar's into the chain. In response to the decline in sales, he implemented a three-year plan in which branches were tailored to their local market alongside a 'rejuvenation'[41] of the company brand and an increase in range. As part of these changes, Waterstones implemented new branding in May 2010, developed by agency VentureThree.[42] The company also moved to support the Rainbow Trust, which provides support to children with life-threatening and terminal illnesses and their families, in the same year.[43]

After an announcement that profits would be at the lower end of analysts' forecasts due to falling sales and a share price fall of 20%, HMV Group indicated its intention to close a number of Waterstones branches in January 2011.[44][45] These shop closures, including two in Dublin, Republic of Ireland[46] and nine others across the United Kingdom occurred in February 2011.[47] Further branch closures in Luton, Dorking, Lancaster University, Harrods, Gateshead and Norwich Arcade were completed by the end of 2011.[48]

Alexander Mamut & James Daunt: 2011–present Edit

In May 2011 HMV Group announced the sale of Waterstones to A&NN Capital Fund Management, a fund controlled by Russian businessman Alexander Mamut for £53 million.[49] The takeover was welcomed by publishers as "a step forward to re-establishing a proper physical presence".[50] On 29 June 2011, the sale of Waterstones was completed and approved by the vast majority of shareholders at an emergency general meeting.[9] Mamut appointed James Daunt, founder of Daunt Books, as managing director[51] and a board of directors was announced in October 2011 including Miranda Curtis as chairman.[52] In September 2011, the bookseller announced that it intended to drop its 3-for-2 deal on books after a decade.[53] The offer was replaced with a 'bespoke offer', based on branches choosing their own pricing structures from available discounts.[54]

In January 2012, the company announced that it would be moving away from the branding developed in 2010 by agency VentureThree,[42] and reverting to its original logo.[55] This involved the removal of the apostrophe from its name because, James Daunt argued, "Waterstones without an apostrophe is, in a digital world of URLs and email addresses, a more versatile and practical spelling".[56] This decision received media coverage, in which the company was subject to criticism. John Richards, of the Apostrophe Protection Society, said that the change was "just plain wrong" and "grammatically incorrect"[57] while the move sparked outrage on Twitter, involving debate on whether the move was grammatically incorrect or not.[57] Linguist David Crystal on his blog added: " ... if Waterstone's wants to become Waterstones, that's up to the firm. It's nothing to do with expressing possession or plurality or anything to do with meaning."[58]

In the same month, Waterstones confirmed plans to open a Russian-language bookshop in its Piccadilly branch, intending to stock 5,000 titles with the shop being entirely staffed of Russian-speaking booksellers.[59] The concession, named The Russian Bookshop, opened in March 2012.[60]

 
Sutton branch, with Café W signage

Following a decision in late 2011 to scrap an e-reading offer in-branch,[61] it was announced in May 2012 that Waterstones would be selling the Amazon Kindle across its estate. James Daunt launched the new agreement with Amazon stating that Waterstones would be offering "e-reading services and offer Kindle digital devices" throughout the company's branches and on its website, with an intention to "make the Kindle experience better".[13] This announcement was received with surprise across the book industry as it had been suggested that Waterstones was developing a partnership with Barnes & Noble to launch the Nook in the UK, or that the company was developing its own device, but Daunt "ultimately rejected" other avenues as Waterstones "would have been out of the market" before their implementation.[62]

It was also announced in May 2012 that the company would begin a refurbishment plan, with Mamut "investing tens of millions of pounds" to fund the refit of a planned 100 shops before the end of the year. The plan saw the introduction of wi-fi into shops,[63] reorganisation of shop sections and space[64] dedicated areas for Kindle devices, and a number of own-brand coffee shops called Café W.[65] The Café W brand was trialled in the Sutton branch, with an expressed aim for around 130 shops over a 3-year period to be fitted with a café.[66] The announcement also noted the introduction of a 'click-and-collect' service.[64]

The Amazon Kindle officially launched in-branch in October 2012 with an "outdoor and press advertising campaign" promoting the launch, with the Kindle Fire and Kindle Paperwhite model going on sale for the first time in the UK along with older models.[67] The Kindles were tailored with Waterstones screensavers, which led to some complaints and customers attempting to return their devices.[68] The release of the Kindle coincided with a relaunch of the company's brand in the same month, pushing the message that the chain was the 'nation's leading bookshop' and producing an exclusive anthology, the Waterstones Red Anthology, to help promote the shops.[69]

By the end of 2012, the Waterstones estate had shrunk to 288 shops,[70] with "commercial reasons" given for the closure of branches in Bromsgrove,[71] Stevenage,[71] Watford,[70] Fleet Street,[70] High Holborn[70] and Epsom[72] among others, with staff being redeployed where possible. In 2012, Daunt stated that future expansion was being considered, based on the performance of the company.[65] The accounts for the year to 2012 showed Waterstones, prior- and post-acquisition had made losses of £37.3 million,[73]

 
Waterstones Cirencester branch

Started in 2012 was an overhaul of the company's business strategy, with centralised decision making giving way to shop-based decisions and a renewed emphasis on traditional bookselling techniques.[74] Waterstones embarked on a major restructuring of staffing levels, with a company-wide consultation with 560 managerial staff to subsequently reduce roles within the company.[75] This consultation led to Head Office staff departures[76] and around 200 branch and regional managers leaving their posts.[77] Waterstones launched a number of new partnerships through the year, including with the University of Derby to launch a professional qualification programme for its staff,[78] with the Folio Society to extend customer reach and stock selection in London-based bookshops,[79] and partnering with a new charity, BookTrust.[80] By the end of 2013, Waterstones had cut its losses to £12.2 million, opened 12 further Café W outlets, and embarked on a capital investment in its shop portfolio of £29.5 million.[81]

In 2014, they opened new shops in Ringwood, Blackburn[5] and Southwold, its first branch to be without Waterstones branding,[82] as well as closing shops in Eastleigh and St Neots.[83] Continued business strategy change saw further departures from head office in brand communication and PR[84] and a renewed agency contract for Waterstones' digital marketing with Epiphany.[85] The retailer overhauled its business technology with new algorithms on its website to help personalise the online shopping experience,[86] updated point-of-sale IT[87] and by introducing contactless payment in its shops.[88] The retailer partnered with Airbnb to hold a one-off 'sleepover' for customers in its Piccadilly branch in October 2014 after a customer was accidentally trapped in the Trafalgar Square branch after closing.[89] Accounts for 2014 saw operating income losses narrow to £3.8 million, but sales slip by 5.9%.[90]

The ongoing strategic changes made to the way the business operates[91] included the decision in October 2015, after 3 years on sale in shops, to remove the Kindle from its offer following "pitiful" sales and handing the retail space over to books.[14] This was followed, after a failed attempt to buy BlinkBox books from Tesco in January 2015,[92] with Waterstones announcing it had sold its e-book business to Rakuten Kobo Inc. in May 2016,[93] subsequently directing customers who had purchased e-books through the retailer to access their e-books via Kobo's eBook site.[94] This sale represented an exit from the e-book and e-reader market for Waterstones after 8 years and multiple platforms.[95]

The company partnered with Oxfam in 2015 to raise £1 million for those impacted by the Syrian civil war crisis through a nationwide campaign called 'Buy Books for Syria'.[96] Further changes to shops were made in 2015, with the closure of Wimbledon[97] and Birmingham New Street,[98] the opening of The Rye Bookshop[99] and a return to Welwyn Garden City.[100] The company reported an operating income of £5.4 million and a further narrowing of losses to £4.5 million from £18.8 million the previous year.[101]

 
Birmingham branch, with an updated style signage following refurbishment

In a 2016 interview with Daunt, he stated that Amazon "defines how Waterstones acts" and while Waterstones could not compete with the internet retailer digitally, it could offer a credible alternative, believing there was "a future in physical bookselling."[102] Waterstones continued to look at "fixing the basics" during 2016, such as adjusting shop opening hours and harnessing data from the loyalty card[103] as well as refurbishment of physical shops, including the Canterbury branch,[104] and work on its e-commerce routes through improvements to product ranking.[105] Shops in Oxford Street Plaza, Edinburgh George Street[106] and Reading Oracle[107] were closed, Harpenden Books,[108] Glasgow Fort[109] and Tottenham Court Road[110] were opened and Wimbledon[106] and Watford[111] were reopened in new sites. The newly opened shops benefitted from a refreshed brand look, widely welcomed by the book trade.[112] The retailer renewed its partnership with Oxfam to continue to raise money for the Syrian crisis, donating £5 for each 'Book of the Month' sold in-shop during November 2016.[113] Daunt made public his concern that the UK EU referendum was likely to impact on company sales due to an expected retail downturn following a 'no' vote.[114] He later noted that sales had remained 'buoyant' following the decision to leave the EU, but remained pessimistic for the future.[115]

Accounts show that Waterstones made its first profit in 7 years of £11.7 million in the year ending April 2016.[116] This included increased profits in Ireland, with sales rising 7% over the year,[117] with the company expressing a desire to open more shops in Ireland.[118] The management board was reduced from 7 members to 3 in August 2016, with the departure of Miranda Curtis and a statement that the future composition was under review.[119] Waterstones announced it had raised £300,000 for BookTrust in 3 years since partnering, and would continue the partnership for a fourth year.[120]

In April 2018, hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation bought a majority stake in the company, leaving Alexander Mamut's Lynwood Investments with a minority holding.[121] The sale completed in early June 2018.[122] Daunt remained as chief executive.[123]

In 2021, an article in The Bookseller reported that Waterstones were planning a collaboration with Next to have Waterstones within some Next stores.[124] In April 2022, a new Waterstones within Next in Martlesham, Ipswich was announced [125]

In 2022, Waterstones purchased Blackwell's, the largest independent bookstore in the UK, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition was done under US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management.[126]

Acquisitions Edit

Dillons (including Hatchards) Edit

Acquired in 1995 by the Thorn EMI group, Dillons was the UK's second-largest bookseller behind Waterstones and was the bookselling arm of EMI's retail division, which included HMV.[127] Dillons had acquired Hatchards. Following the demerger of Thorn and EMI in 1996, the retail arm was divested from the EMI portfolio within a year and spun off into the HMV Media Group, an investment venture between EMI Group and Advent International private equity group.[7] This venture included HMV, Dillons and Waterstones (the latter bought from WHSmith for £300 million), combining to make an international entertainment retailer of over 500 shops.[127] Following a rebuffed takeover attempt in 1997 of WHSmith, Tim Waterstone became part of the deal and by May 1998, following the £801 million deal completion became chairman of the group.[127] All Dillons shops were incorporated within the Waterstones brand by 1998.[128]

Ottakar's Edit

 
Northallerton branch

In September 2005 HMV Group began attempts to buy rival book chain Ottakar's. This alarmed publishers and authors[129] who hoped the Office of Fair Trading would refer the takeover bid to the Competition Commission. In March 2006, the Competition Commission cleared Waterstones for takeover of the Ottakar's, stating the takeover would "not result in a substantial lessening of competition", and is "not likely to affect book prices, range of titles offered or quality of service." Through extensive research they also found that "contrary to widespread perception, Waterstones, like Ottakar's, operates a book-buying system which mixes central and local input on stock selection."[130]

On 31 May 2006, Waterstones announced that it had successfully negotiated the takeover of Ottakar's. HMV chief executive Alan Giles said: "A combined Waterstones and Ottakar's business will create an exciting, quality bookseller, able to respond better to the increasingly competitive pressures of the retail market." Ottakar's chairman Philip Dunne said: "Over the last year the book market has undergone a significant change with new levels of competition from the supermarkets and online retailers impacting all specialist booksellers and in particular those with insufficient scale to compete on equal terms."[131]

Following the takeover, HMV announced that they would be rebranding every branch of Ottakar's as a Waterstones. In July 2006, a conversion programme was initiated and within four months, every Ottakar's shop had been relaunched as a Waterstones and had seen the loss of 100 jobs.[132]

Books Etc Edit

In August 2008, the now-defunct Borders chain agreed to sell eight Books Etc. shops to Waterstones for an undisclosed sum. The takeover, which represented 34,000 square feet (3,200 m2) of retail space and incurred no staff losses, increased Waterstones' presence within London to almost 50 shops, "crucially [in] areas that are not represented by Waterstones bookshops". The shops, in Fleet Street, London Wall, Holborn, Wandsworth, Uxbridge, Finchley Road and Canary Wharf, were rebranded and merged into the Waterstones chain by September 2008.[133]

Foyles Edit

In September 2018, Waterstones confirmed it would buy 115-year-old Foyles, with seven stores whilst retaining the brand. James Daunt said the purchase would help "to protect and champion the pleasures of real bookshops in the face of Amazon's siren call".[11]

Blackwell's Edit

In February 2022, Waterstones acquired Blackwell's for an undisclosed sum.[134]

Controversies Edit

Tax Edit

Tim Waterstone and James Daunt have been critical of tax avoidance by Amazon.com in the British press.[135][136] Amazon has received sustained scrutiny for the amount of its overall sales that are reported by its UK subsidiary, in comparison to those 'processed offshore in Luxembourg to avoid UK tax'.[137] In the 2012–13 financial year, Amazon paid £3.2 million in tax on sales of £4.2 billion and received £2.5 million in grants from the government.[138] In the same period, it was revealed that Waterstones paid £11.9 million in tax, despite an operating loss of £25.4 million and sales of £410.4 million.[139][140]

In a report on tax avoidance in the book industry, the magazine Ethical Consumer argued that A&NN Capital Fund Management, Waterstones' parent company in Bermuda, "likely to be for tax avoidance purposes".[141] In response to this, Waterstones issued a clarification on their website reading "As a UK registered and domiciled business, Waterstones fulfils all its tax obligations. This will include both the payment and reporting of all necessary UK taxes, as set out under UK tax legislation."[142] In the 2013–14 financial period, the first full year under A&NN, Waterstones reported sales to Companies House of £398.5 million and an operating loss of £12.2 million.[143]

Non-branded shops Edit

 
Southwold Books branch

Waterstones opened its first non-branded shop in Southwold, Suffolk in July 2014 called Southwold Books.[144] The company decided not to use its branding as it wished to 'fit in' with the town's high proportion of independent retailers, but this move drew anger from local residents at the time as they viewed the move as "dishonest" and said that local shop rents were being increased because of retail chains moving in and this subsequently was "changing the character of the high street".[144]

Non-branded Waterstones became an issue again in 2016 at a national level, following newspaper reports about not only Southwold Books but two further shops, The Rye Bookshop in Sussex and Harpenden Books in Hertfordshire, being opened and local residents not realising the connection with the retailer.[145][146] Commentators were split on the ethics of the decision to open unbranded shops,[147][148] but it was noted that at no point had attempts been made to hide the connection to the retailer.[149] In interviews, James Daunt denied any "subterfuge" and said he wanted for the shops to behave as independent retailers do and have their own identity. He further stated that more unbranded shops were likely to open in the future.[150]

Environmental impact Edit

Waterstones has worked with the British Safety Council to consider its environmental impact, including factors beyond its carbon footprint. After a 2008 audit, the Council awarded Waterstones three out of a possible five stars for environmental impact.[151]

Real living wage Edit

As of March 2019, Waterstones does not pay the "real living wage", as recommended by the Living Wage Foundation, and a rate significantly higher than the official National Living Wage. More than 1,300 writers backed a campaign to ask Waterstones to pay the "real living wage". In response Waterstone managing director James Daunt said the company was "simply not profitable enough" and that "there's a long gap between wanting to do something and it being remotely sensible". Waterstones said that only Ikea, Majestic and Lush of other similar large retailers pay the "real living wage".[152]

Awards Edit

Waterstones maintains and supports various literary awards, including the Waterstones Children's Laureate,[15] the Waterstones Children's Book Prize,[16] the Waterstones Book of the Year, Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize,[153] as well as now-defunct awards including the Waterstones 11[154] and the Guardian First Book Award.[155] The company has also received various industry and consumer awards.

Waterstones prizes Edit

Book of the Year Edit

 
Interior of the Sutton branch

The prize, which has been running since 2012, sees booksellers from across the company select a shortlist of books from any category, published at any time, before the winner is chosen by panel.[156]

 
Children's department, Reading Broad St
Waterstones Book of the Year winners
Year Author Title Ref.
2012 Russell Norman Polpo [156]
2013 John Williams Stoner [157]
2014 Jessie Burton The Miniaturist [158]
2015 Coralie Bickford-Smith The Fox and the Star [159]
2016 Sarah Perry The Essex Serpent [160]
2017 Philip Pullman La Belle Sauvage: Book of Dust Volume One [161]
2018 Sally Rooney Normal People
2019 Charlie Mackesy The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
2020 Maggie O'Farrell Hamnet
2021 Paul McCartney The Lyrics [162]
2022 Katy Hessel The Story of Art Without Men [163]

Children's Book Prize Edit

Main article: Waterstones Children's Book Prize

Waterstones continued the Ottakar's Children's Book Prize under its own brand and since 2005, the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize has attempted "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" by awarding authors with no more than two previously published books (adult or children's fiction).

Waterstones Children's Book Prize winners
Year Author Title Ref.
2005 Stuart Hill The Cry of the Icemark [164]
2006 Julia Golding The Diamond of Drury Lane [165]
2007 Tom Becker Darkside [166]
2008 Sally Nicholls Ways to Live Forever [167]
2009 Michelle Harrison 13 Treasures [168]
2010 Katie Davies The Great Hamster Massacre [169]
2011 Sita Brahmachari Artichoke Hearts [170]
2012 Jonny Duddle The Pirates Next Door [171]
2013 Annabel Pitcher Ketchup Clouds [172]
2014 Katherine Rundell Rooftoppers [173]
2015 Rob Biddulph Blown Away [174]
2016 David Solomons My Brother is a Superhero [175]
2017 Kiran Milwood The Girl of Ink and Stars [176]
2018 Angie Thomas The Hate U Give
2019 Onjali Q. Raúf The Boy at the Back of the Class
2020 Nathan Bryon with Dapo Adeola (illus.) Look Up!

Waterstones is also the main sponsor of The Waterstones Children's Laureate, previously sponsored by Ottakar's. The 2011–2013 role saw the position carry the Waterstones branding for the first time, with the company stating it was 'up weighting [its] activity' and 'supporting the role in shops and online in different ways throughout the year and beyond.'[177] Holders of the role during sponsorship include Julia Donaldson, Malorie Blackman and the current holder, Chris Riddle.[178][179]

Debut Fiction Prize Edit

The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, established in 2022, is an annual literary award presented to the best debut fiction published in the previous 12 months.

Waterstones 11 Edit

Set up in 2011, the Waterstones 11 was created to promote debut literary fiction from new authors being published in the year ahead.[180] Books were chosen from a list of 100 submitted by publishers, and were announced in January 2011 with in-shop and online support, as well as a media campaign for the final 11.[181] The inaugural 11 included the Orange Prize Winner The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht, Man Booker Prize nominee Pigeon English, by Stephen Kelman and the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award winner When God Was a Rabbit, by Sarah Winman.[180] The last list was announced in January 2013,[182] following the discontinuation of the prize in January 2014.[citation needed]

Locations Edit

 
London Piccadilly flagship branch
 
High Street Kensington branch, near the original Old Brompton Road branch
 
The Wool Exchange in Bradford has been converted into a Waterstones.

Waterstones has academic and high street shops in Europe including the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland (with shops in Cork, Drogheda, and in Dublin under the name Hodges Figgis) and in the Netherlands and Belgium. Some branches in the company occupy buildings of architectural and historical interest.

Flagship superstores

Its flagship shop on Piccadilly, formerly the Simpsons of Piccadilly department store and notable for its 1930s-Modernist architecture, is the largest shop in the Waterstones estate and claimed to be the largest bookshop in Europe.[183] The main academic branch, formerly the flagship shop of Dillons, is located on Gower Street, between University College London and the Student Central, and promoted as Europe's largest academic bookshop.[184] Aside from these branches, Waterstones operates a number of large shops which are set over multiple floors. Waterstones refers to these shops as 'superstores':[3]

  • Piccadilly, London (formerly Simpsons of Piccadilly) – flagship branch with six floors and an estimated 8+1⁄2 miles of shelving.[185] In 2012, the head office of the company was moved to the shop.[186]
  • Gower Street, London – academic branch with five floors and 5 miles of shelving[187]
  • Sidney Street, Cambridge – set over four floors, and containing two cafes.
  • Albion Street, Leeds set over three floors
  • College Lane, Liverpool – two floors, including the largest open-plan floor of books in Europe.[188]
  • Deansgate, Manchester – three floors, with over 100,000 books in stock.[189]
  • Milsom Street, Bath – three floors, with over 55,000 books in stock.[190]
  • La Scala Cinema,[191] Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow – five floors, set in a former cinema[192]
  • Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham – five floors[193]

Shops of architectural and historical interest

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ "Waterstones to open new bookshops in London, Lichfield, Suffolk and Oldham". The Bookseller. 22 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Waterstones sales, profit up in year to April 2022". 20 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "About Us | Waterstones.com Help | Waterstones". waterstones.com.
  4. ^ "Bookshops in the UK and Europe – Waterstones". Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b Flood, Alison (28 February 2014). "Waterstones boss James Daunt: 'We can sell enough books to stay alive'". Retrieved 24 September 2016 – via The Guardian.
  6. ^ a b "Waterstone's: a history". The Telegraph. London. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e WH Smith PLC. "History of WH Smith: 1990-Today". WH Smith Company Information. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  8. ^ "James Daunt: the man who saved Waterstones". Evening Standard. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  9. ^ a b Sillitoe, Ben (29 June 2011). . Retail Gazette. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Find your local Waterstone's". Waterstones. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Waterstones buys Foyles to defend bookshops against Amazon". BBC News. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Café W to be rolled out at Waterstones". Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  13. ^ a b Jones, Philip (21 May 2012). "Waterstones signs Kindle deal with Amazon". The Bookseller. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  14. ^ a b Shepherd, Jack (8 October 2015). "Waterstones to remove Amazon's Kindle from shops". The Independent. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  15. ^ a b "The Children's Laureate". Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Waterstones Children's Bookprize". Waterstones. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  17. ^ a b Thompson, John L.; Martin, Frank (2010). Strategic Management: Awareness & Change. Cengage Learning. p. 401. ISBN 978-1-4080-1807-1.
  18. ^ Blackhurst, Chris (5 October 1997). "Profile: Tim Waterstone - A battle of heart and head". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
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External links Edit

 
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  • Official website

August 27, 2023
waterstones, this, article, about, british, book, retailer, stones, used, sharpen, steel, tools, sharpening, stone, formerly, waterstone, british, book, retailer, that, operates, shops, mainly, united, kingdom, also, other, nearby, countries, february, 2014, e. This article is about the British book retailer For stones used to sharpen steel tools see sharpening stone Waterstones formerly Waterstone s is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries 4 As of February 2014 it employs around 3 500 staff in the UK and Europe 5 An average sized Waterstones shop sells a range of approximately 30 000 individual books 3 as well as stationery and other related products Waterstones Booksellers Ltd TypePrivateIndustryRetailBookshopFoundedOld Brompton Road London 1982 41 years ago 1982 FounderTim WaterstoneHeadquartersLondon England UKNumber of locations311 shops June 2022 1 Area servedUnited Kingdom Ireland Belgium NetherlandsKey peopleJames Daunt MD ProductsBooks stationeryRevenue 399 8 million 2022 2 Number of employees3 500 3 ParentElliott Management CorporationWebsitewww wbr waterstones wbr comEstablished in 1982 by Tim Waterstone after whom the company was named the bookseller expanded rapidly until being sold in 1993 to WHSmith 6 In 1998 Waterstones was bought by a consortium of Waterstone EMI and Advent International 7 The company was taken under the umbrella of HMV Group which later merged the Dillons and Ottakar s brands into the company 6 Following several poor sets of results for the group HMV put the chain up for sale In May 2011 it was announced that A amp NN Capital Fund Management owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut had bought the chain for 53 5m 8 and appointed James Daunt as managing director 9 The company is incorporated in England and Wales as Waterstones Booksellers Ltd with its registered office at 203 206 Piccadilly London which is also the location of its flagship shop As well as the Waterstones brand the company owns the London bookseller Hatchards 10 Irish shop Hodges Figgis 10 and reached an agreement to purchase Foyles in 2018 11 In April 2018 hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation bought a majority stake in the company The bookseller has concession agreements with Paperchase and previously with coffee chains Costa Coffee and Starbucks in some shops but since 2012 has introduced its own Cafe W brand 12 For a time Waterstones sold e readers including in 2012 partnering with Amazon to sell the Amazon Kindle 13 but has since pulled out of this market for commercial reasons 14 Waterstones administers and supports various literary awards including the Children s Laureate award 15 and the Waterstones Children s Book Prize 16 Contents 1 History and developments 1 1 Formation amp WHSmith 1982 1998 1 2 HMV Group 1998 2011 1 3 Alexander Mamut amp James Daunt 2011 present 2 Acquisitions 2 1 Dillons including Hatchards 2 2 Ottakar s 2 3 Books Etc 2 4 Foyles 2 5 Blackwell s 3 Controversies 3 1 Tax 3 2 Non branded shops 3 3 Environmental impact 3 4 Real living wage 4 Awards 4 1 Waterstones prizes 4 1 1 Book of the Year 4 1 2 Children s Book Prize 4 1 3 Debut Fiction Prize 4 1 4 Waterstones 11 5 Locations 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHistory and developments Edit Early versions of shop signage were gold in colourFormation amp WHSmith 1982 1998 Edit The chain was founded by Tim Waterstone after he took a 17 18 6 000 redundancy payout from WHSmith He set up his first shop in Old Brompton Road Kensington with the ambition of creating a different breed of bookshop using techniques he had seen in the United States 17 He used literary authors in front of shop displays and employed highly literate staff 19 The model proved successful and the chain set about expanding its shop portfolio In 1990 WHSmith took a strong minority stake in the chain and ten years after its birth by 1992 Waterstone s had grown to be the largest bookseller group in Europe WHSmith 19 then acquired the company in 1993 at an enterprise value of 47m paying 5 27 a share on 8 1m 10p shares a 53x multiple for the early stage investors 20 Under WHSmith Waterstones pursued international expansion opening its first US shop in Boston in 1991 7 as well as further domestic expansion opening its 100th UK shop in a former chapel in Reading 7 The chain was part of the eventual dismantling of the Net Book Agreement when in 1991 following a promotion by then rivals Dillons the company decided to pursue its own discounting promotion on selected titles 21 By 1997 the agreement had collapsed and been declared illegal 22 HMV Group 1998 2011 Edit Waterstones in Wakefield occupies the city s former HMV branch Following an attempt by Tim Waterstone in 1997 to buy the entire WHSmith group citation needed WHSmith sold the Waterstones chain for 300 million to HMV Media plc now HMV Group a joint venture between EMI Advent International and Tim Waterstone 7 This included high street brands HMV and rival Dillons creating an international entertainment retailer Waterstone was appointed chairman of the group but stood down in 2001 citing concerns for the way the company was being run 20 and was replaced by Alan Giles 23 A year later all Dillons shops were rebranded as Waterstones with some sold to rival Ottakar s making the brand defunct The chain had also begun pulling out of its US overseas venture 24 Waterstones launched the Waterstones Books Quarterly magazine in 2001 containing book reviews and author interviews In the same year the booksellers online operation Waterstones co uk was franchised to Amazon com with the company expressing a desire to concentrate on its high street and campus shops The move resulted in the loss of 50 jobs 25 In 2003 Waterstones announced it was supporting Dyslexia Action as its chosen charity helping to raise awareness and understanding for dyslexia 26 Waterstones logo until 2010In 2006 Giles stepped down from his position and was replaced by Gerry Johnson as managing director of Waterstones 27 and Simon Fox as group CEO 28 In April 2006 following two bids by Permira for the group Tim Waterstone attempted to buy back the company from HMV for 256 million 29 but later withdrew his offer specifying the conditions set by HMV were too punitive to accept 30 A strategic review in September saw Waterstones pull out of its franchise agreement with Amazon to re launch its online business Waterstones com independently 31 The chain also began to pilot a loyalty programme in South West England and Wales The scheme was successful launching nationally as The Waterstones Card across its entire shop portfolio 32 Waterstones piloted a brand refresh exercise in selected shops beginning with Manchester s Arndale Centre in 2007 33 On 19 November 2007 the chain closed its first branch on Old Brompton Road 34 Following a consultation the company s supply chain was overhauled in 2008 with the implementation of a 150 000 square foot 14 000 m2 warehouse and distribution centre in Burton upon Trent Existing direct to store deliveries from suppliers were replaced by a centralised warehouse capable of receiving merchandise and sorting an estimated 70 million books per year and 200 staff were made redundant by the process 35 36 In September 2008 Waterstones began selling the Sony Reader in an agreement which saw the booksellers branches and Sony Centre shops stock the reader exclusively for two weeks after its release Waterstones com began to supply e books in the epub format 37 In November 2009 Waterstones moved into second hand bookselling in a partnership with Alibris setting up an online reselling tool called Waterstones Marketplace part of Waterstones com 38 A re branding saw the logo change from Baskerville to FS Albert Pro until 2012 In January 2010 HMV Group announced that Waterstones like for like sales over the Christmas period were down 8 5 per cent on the previous year This culminated in the resignation of managing director Gerry Johnson with immediate effect 39 He was replaced by development director Dominic Myers who was managing director of the British academic bookselling chain Blackwells until 2005 40 Myers joined HMV in 2006 to oversee the integration of Ottakar s into the chain In response to the decline in sales he implemented a three year plan in which branches were tailored to their local market alongside a rejuvenation 41 of the company brand and an increase in range As part of these changes Waterstones implemented new branding in May 2010 developed by agency VentureThree 42 The company also moved to support the Rainbow Trust which provides support to children with life threatening and terminal illnesses and their families in the same year 43 After an announcement that profits would be at the lower end of analysts forecasts due to falling sales and a share price fall of 20 HMV Group indicated its intention to close a number of Waterstones branches in January 2011 44 45 These shop closures including two in Dublin Republic of Ireland 46 and nine others across the United Kingdom occurred in February 2011 47 Further branch closures in Luton Dorking Lancaster University Harrods Gateshead and Norwich Arcade were completed by the end of 2011 48 Alexander Mamut amp James Daunt 2011 present Edit In May 2011 HMV Group announced the sale of Waterstones to A amp NN Capital Fund Management a fund controlled by Russian businessman Alexander Mamut for 53 million 49 The takeover was welcomed by publishers as a step forward to re establishing a proper physical presence 50 On 29 June 2011 the sale of Waterstones was completed and approved by the vast majority of shareholders at an emergency general meeting 9 Mamut appointed James Daunt founder of Daunt Books as managing director 51 and a board of directors was announced in October 2011 including Miranda Curtis as chairman 52 In September 2011 the bookseller announced that it intended to drop its 3 for 2 deal on books after a decade 53 The offer was replaced with a bespoke offer based on branches choosing their own pricing structures from available discounts 54 In January 2012 the company announced that it would be moving away from the branding developed in 2010 by agency VentureThree 42 and reverting to its original logo 55 This involved the removal of the apostrophe from its name because James Daunt argued Waterstones without an apostrophe is in a digital world of URLs and email addresses a more versatile and practical spelling 56 This decision received media coverage in which the company was subject to criticism John Richards of the Apostrophe Protection Society said that the change was just plain wrong and grammatically incorrect 57 while the move sparked outrage on Twitter involving debate on whether the move was grammatically incorrect or not 57 Linguist David Crystal on his blog added if Waterstone s wants to become Waterstones that s up to the firm It s nothing to do with expressing possession or plurality or anything to do with meaning 58 In the same month Waterstones confirmed plans to open a Russian language bookshop in its Piccadilly branch intending to stock 5 000 titles with the shop being entirely staffed of Russian speaking booksellers 59 The concession named The Russian Bookshop opened in March 2012 60 Sutton branch with Cafe W signageFollowing a decision in late 2011 to scrap an e reading offer in branch 61 it was announced in May 2012 that Waterstones would be selling the Amazon Kindle across its estate James Daunt launched the new agreement with Amazon stating that Waterstones would be offering e reading services and offer Kindle digital devices throughout the company s branches and on its website with an intention to make the Kindle experience better 13 This announcement was received with surprise across the book industry as it had been suggested that Waterstones was developing a partnership with Barnes amp Noble to launch the Nook in the UK or that the company was developing its own device but Daunt ultimately rejected other avenues as Waterstones would have been out of the market before their implementation 62 It was also announced in May 2012 that the company would begin a refurbishment plan with Mamut investing tens of millions of pounds to fund the refit of a planned 100 shops before the end of the year The plan saw the introduction of wi fi into shops 63 reorganisation of shop sections and space 64 dedicated areas for Kindle devices and a number of own brand coffee shops called Cafe W 65 The Cafe W brand was trialled in the Sutton branch with an expressed aim for around 130 shops over a 3 year period to be fitted with a cafe 66 The announcement also noted the introduction of a click and collect service 64 The Amazon Kindle officially launched in branch in October 2012 with an outdoor and press advertising campaign promoting the launch with the Kindle Fire and Kindle Paperwhite model going on sale for the first time in the UK along with older models 67 The Kindles were tailored with Waterstones screensavers which led to some complaints and customers attempting to return their devices 68 The release of the Kindle coincided with a relaunch of the company s brand in the same month pushing the message that the chain was the nation s leading bookshop and producing an exclusive anthology the Waterstones Red Anthology to help promote the shops 69 By the end of 2012 the Waterstones estate had shrunk to 288 shops 70 with commercial reasons given for the closure of branches in Bromsgrove 71 Stevenage 71 Watford 70 Fleet Street 70 High Holborn 70 and Epsom 72 among others with staff being redeployed where possible In 2012 Daunt stated that future expansion was being considered based on the performance of the company 65 The accounts for the year to 2012 showed Waterstones prior and post acquisition had made losses of 37 3 million 73 Waterstones Cirencester branchStarted in 2012 was an overhaul of the company s business strategy with centralised decision making giving way to shop based decisions and a renewed emphasis on traditional bookselling techniques 74 Waterstones embarked on a major restructuring of staffing levels with a company wide consultation with 560 managerial staff to subsequently reduce roles within the company 75 This consultation led to Head Office staff departures 76 and around 200 branch and regional managers leaving their posts 77 Waterstones launched a number of new partnerships through the year including with the University of Derby to launch a professional qualification programme for its staff 78 with the Folio Society to extend customer reach and stock selection in London based bookshops 79 and partnering with a new charity BookTrust 80 By the end of 2013 Waterstones had cut its losses to 12 2 million opened 12 further Cafe W outlets and embarked on a capital investment in its shop portfolio of 29 5 million 81 In 2014 they opened new shops in Ringwood Blackburn 5 and Southwold its first branch to be without Waterstones branding 82 as well as closing shops in Eastleigh and St Neots 83 Continued business strategy change saw further departures from head office in brand communication and PR 84 and a renewed agency contract for Waterstones digital marketing with Epiphany 85 The retailer overhauled its business technology with new algorithms on its website to help personalise the online shopping experience 86 updated point of sale IT 87 and by introducing contactless payment in its shops 88 The retailer partnered with Airbnb to hold a one off sleepover for customers in its Piccadilly branch in October 2014 after a customer was accidentally trapped in the Trafalgar Square branch after closing 89 Accounts for 2014 saw operating income losses narrow to 3 8 million but sales slip by 5 9 90 The ongoing strategic changes made to the way the business operates 91 included the decision in October 2015 after 3 years on sale in shops to remove the Kindle from its offer following pitiful sales and handing the retail space over to books 14 This was followed after a failed attempt to buy BlinkBox books from Tesco in January 2015 92 with Waterstones announcing it had sold its e book business to Rakuten Kobo Inc in May 2016 93 subsequently directing customers who had purchased e books through the retailer to access their e books via Kobo s eBook site 94 This sale represented an exit from the e book and e reader market for Waterstones after 8 years and multiple platforms 95 The company partnered with Oxfam in 2015 to raise 1 million for those impacted by the Syrian civil war crisis through a nationwide campaign called Buy Books for Syria 96 Further changes to shops were made in 2015 with the closure of Wimbledon 97 and Birmingham New Street 98 the opening of The Rye Bookshop 99 and a return to Welwyn Garden City 100 The company reported an operating income of 5 4 million and a further narrowing of losses to 4 5 million from 18 8 million the previous year 101 Birmingham branch with an updated style signage following refurbishmentIn a 2016 interview with Daunt he stated that Amazon defines how Waterstones acts and while Waterstones could not compete with the internet retailer digitally it could offer a credible alternative believing there was a future in physical bookselling 102 Waterstones continued to look at fixing the basics during 2016 such as adjusting shop opening hours and harnessing data from the loyalty card 103 as well as refurbishment of physical shops including the Canterbury branch 104 and work on its e commerce routes through improvements to product ranking 105 Shops in Oxford Street Plaza Edinburgh George Street 106 and Reading Oracle 107 were closed Harpenden Books 108 Glasgow Fort 109 and Tottenham Court Road 110 were opened and Wimbledon 106 and Watford 111 were reopened in new sites The newly opened shops benefitted from a refreshed brand look widely welcomed by the book trade 112 The retailer renewed its partnership with Oxfam to continue to raise money for the Syrian crisis donating 5 for each Book of the Month sold in shop during November 2016 113 Daunt made public his concern that the UK EU referendum was likely to impact on company sales due to an expected retail downturn following a no vote 114 He later noted that sales had remained buoyant following the decision to leave the EU but remained pessimistic for the future 115 Accounts show that Waterstones made its first profit in 7 years of 11 7 million in the year ending April 2016 116 This included increased profits in Ireland with sales rising 7 over the year 117 with the company expressing a desire to open more shops in Ireland 118 The management board was reduced from 7 members to 3 in August 2016 with the departure of Miranda Curtis and a statement that the future composition was under review 119 Waterstones announced it had raised 300 000 for BookTrust in 3 years since partnering and would continue the partnership for a fourth year 120 In April 2018 hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation bought a majority stake in the company leaving Alexander Mamut s Lynwood Investments with a minority holding 121 The sale completed in early June 2018 122 Daunt remained as chief executive 123 In 2021 an article in The Bookseller reported that Waterstones were planning a collaboration with Next to have Waterstones within some Next stores 124 In April 2022 a new Waterstones within Next in Martlesham Ipswich was announced 125 In 2022 Waterstones purchased Blackwell s the largest independent bookstore in the UK for an undisclosed sum The acquisition was done under US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management 126 Acquisitions EditDillons including Hatchards Edit Acquired in 1995 by the Thorn EMI group Dillons was the UK s second largest bookseller behind Waterstones and was the bookselling arm of EMI s retail division which included HMV 127 Dillons had acquired Hatchards Following the demerger of Thorn and EMI in 1996 the retail arm was divested from the EMI portfolio within a year and spun off into the HMV Media Group an investment venture between EMI Group and Advent International private equity group 7 This venture included HMV Dillons and Waterstones the latter bought from WHSmith for 300 million combining to make an international entertainment retailer of over 500 shops 127 Following a rebuffed takeover attempt in 1997 of WHSmith Tim Waterstone became part of the deal and by May 1998 following the 801 million deal completion became chairman of the group 127 All Dillons shops were incorporated within the Waterstones brand by 1998 128 Ottakar s Edit Northallerton branchIn September 2005 HMV Group began attempts to buy rival book chain Ottakar s This alarmed publishers and authors 129 who hoped the Office of Fair Trading would refer the takeover bid to the Competition Commission In March 2006 the Competition Commission cleared Waterstones for takeover of the Ottakar s stating the takeover would not result in a substantial lessening of competition and is not likely to affect book prices range of titles offered or quality of service Through extensive research they also found that contrary to widespread perception Waterstones like Ottakar s operates a book buying system which mixes central and local input on stock selection 130 On 31 May 2006 Waterstones announced that it had successfully negotiated the takeover of Ottakar s HMV chief executive Alan Giles said A combined Waterstones and Ottakar s business will create an exciting quality bookseller able to respond better to the increasingly competitive pressures of the retail market Ottakar s chairman Philip Dunne said Over the last year the book market has undergone a significant change with new levels of competition from the supermarkets and online retailers impacting all specialist booksellers and in particular those with insufficient scale to compete on equal terms 131 Following the takeover HMV announced that they would be rebranding every branch of Ottakar s as a Waterstones In July 2006 a conversion programme was initiated and within four months every Ottakar s shop had been relaunched as a Waterstones and had seen the loss of 100 jobs 132 Books Etc Edit In August 2008 the now defunct Borders chain agreed to sell eight Books Etc shops to Waterstones for an undisclosed sum The takeover which represented 34 000 square feet 3 200 m2 of retail space and incurred no staff losses increased Waterstones presence within London to almost 50 shops crucially in areas that are not represented by Waterstones bookshops The shops in Fleet Street London Wall Holborn Wandsworth Uxbridge Finchley Road and Canary Wharf were rebranded and merged into the Waterstones chain by September 2008 133 Foyles Edit In September 2018 Waterstones confirmed it would buy 115 year old Foyles with seven stores whilst retaining the brand James Daunt said the purchase would help to protect and champion the pleasures of real bookshops in the face of Amazon s siren call 11 Blackwell s Edit In February 2022 Waterstones acquired Blackwell s for an undisclosed sum 134 Controversies EditTax Edit Tim Waterstone and James Daunt have been critical of tax avoidance by Amazon com in the British press 135 136 Amazon has received sustained scrutiny for the amount of its overall sales that are reported by its UK subsidiary in comparison to those processed offshore in Luxembourg to avoid UK tax 137 In the 2012 13 financial year Amazon paid 3 2 million in tax on sales of 4 2 billion and received 2 5 million in grants from the government 138 In the same period it was revealed that Waterstones paid 11 9 million in tax despite an operating loss of 25 4 million and sales of 410 4 million 139 140 In a report on tax avoidance in the book industry the magazine Ethical Consumer argued that A amp NN Capital Fund Management Waterstones parent company in Bermuda likely to be for tax avoidance purposes 141 In response to this Waterstones issued a clarification on their website reading As a UK registered and domiciled business Waterstones fulfils all its tax obligations This will include both the payment and reporting of all necessary UK taxes as set out under UK tax legislation 142 In the 2013 14 financial period the first full year under A amp NN Waterstones reported sales to Companies House of 398 5 million and an operating loss of 12 2 million 143 Non branded shops Edit Southwold Books branchWaterstones opened its first non branded shop in Southwold Suffolk in July 2014 called Southwold Books 144 The company decided not to use its branding as it wished to fit in with the town s high proportion of independent retailers but this move drew anger from local residents at the time as they viewed the move as dishonest and said that local shop rents were being increased because of retail chains moving in and this subsequently was changing the character of the high street 144 Non branded Waterstones became an issue again in 2016 at a national level following newspaper reports about not only Southwold Books but two further shops The Rye Bookshop in Sussex and Harpenden Books in Hertfordshire being opened and local residents not realising the connection with the retailer 145 146 Commentators were split on the ethics of the decision to open unbranded shops 147 148 but it was noted that at no point had attempts been made to hide the connection to the retailer 149 In interviews James Daunt denied any subterfuge and said he wanted for the shops to behave as independent retailers do and have their own identity He further stated that more unbranded shops were likely to open in the future 150 Environmental impact Edit Waterstones has worked with the British Safety Council to consider its environmental impact including factors beyond its carbon footprint After a 2008 audit the Council awarded Waterstones three out of a possible five stars for environmental impact 151 Real living wage Edit As of March 2019 update Waterstones does not pay the real living wage as recommended by the Living Wage Foundation and a rate significantly higher than the official National Living Wage More than 1 300 writers backed a campaign to ask Waterstones to pay the real living wage In response Waterstone managing director James Daunt said the company was simply not profitable enough and that there s a long gap between wanting to do something and it being remotely sensible Waterstones said that only Ikea Majestic and Lush of other similar large retailers pay the real living wage 152 Awards EditWaterstones maintains and supports various literary awards including the Waterstones Children s Laureate 15 the Waterstones Children s Book Prize 16 the Waterstones Book of the Year Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Pushkin House Russian Book Prize 153 as well as now defunct awards including the Waterstones 11 154 and the Guardian First Book Award 155 The company has also received various industry and consumer awards Waterstones prizes Edit Book of the Year Edit Interior of the Sutton branchThe prize which has been running since 2012 sees booksellers from across the company select a shortlist of books from any category published at any time before the winner is chosen by panel 156 Children s department Reading Broad StWaterstones Book of the Year winners Year Author Title Ref 2012 Russell Norman Polpo 156 2013 John Williams Stoner 157 2014 Jessie Burton The Miniaturist 158 2015 Coralie Bickford Smith The Fox and the Star 159 2016 Sarah Perry The Essex Serpent 160 2017 Philip Pullman La Belle Sauvage Book of Dust Volume One 161 2018 Sally Rooney Normal People2019 Charlie Mackesy The Boy the Mole the Fox and the Horse2020 Maggie O Farrell Hamnet2021 Paul McCartney The Lyrics 162 2022 Katy Hessel The Story of Art Without Men 163 Children s Book Prize Edit Main article Waterstones Children s Book Prize Waterstones continued the Ottakar s Children s Book Prize under its own brand and since 2005 the Waterstone s Children s Book Prize has attempted to uncover hidden talent in children s writing by awarding authors with no more than two previously published books adult or children s fiction Waterstones Children s Book Prize winners Year Author Title Ref 2005 Stuart Hill The Cry of the Icemark 164 2006 Julia Golding The Diamond of Drury Lane 165 2007 Tom Becker Darkside 166 2008 Sally Nicholls Ways to Live Forever 167 2009 Michelle Harrison 13 Treasures 168 2010 Katie Davies The Great Hamster Massacre 169 2011 Sita Brahmachari Artichoke Hearts 170 2012 Jonny Duddle The Pirates Next Door 171 2013 Annabel Pitcher Ketchup Clouds 172 2014 Katherine Rundell Rooftoppers 173 2015 Rob Biddulph Blown Away 174 2016 David Solomons My Brother is a Superhero 175 2017 Kiran Milwood The Girl of Ink and Stars 176 2018 Angie Thomas The Hate U Give2019 Onjali Q Rauf The Boy at the Back of the Class2020 Nathan Bryon with Dapo Adeola illus Look Up Waterstones is also the main sponsor of The Waterstones Children s Laureate previously sponsored by Ottakar s The 2011 2013 role saw the position carry the Waterstones branding for the first time with the company stating it was up weighting its activity and supporting the role in shops and online in different ways throughout the year and beyond 177 Holders of the role during sponsorship include Julia Donaldson Malorie Blackman and the current holder Chris Riddle 178 179 Debut Fiction Prize Edit The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize established in 2022 is an annual literary award presented to the best debut fiction published in the previous 12 months Waterstones 11 Edit Set up in 2011 the Waterstones 11 was created to promote debut literary fiction from new authors being published in the year ahead 180 Books were chosen from a list of 100 submitted by publishers and were announced in January 2011 with in shop and online support as well as a media campaign for the final 11 181 The inaugural 11 included the Orange Prize Winner The Tiger s Wife by Tea Obreht Man Booker Prize nominee Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman and the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award winner When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman 180 The last list was announced in January 2013 182 following the discontinuation of the prize in January 2014 citation needed Locations Edit London Piccadilly flagship branch High Street Kensington branch near the original Old Brompton Road branch The Wool Exchange in Bradford has been converted into a Waterstones Waterstones has academic and high street shops in Europe including the United Kingdom Republic of Ireland with shops in Cork Drogheda and in Dublin under the name Hodges Figgis and in the Netherlands and Belgium Some branches in the company occupy buildings of architectural and historical interest Flagship superstoresIts flagship shop on Piccadilly formerly the Simpsons of Piccadilly department store and notable for its 1930s Modernist architecture is the largest shop in the Waterstones estate and claimed to be the largest bookshop in Europe 183 The main academic branch formerly the flagship shop of Dillons is located on Gower Street between University College London and the Student Central and promoted as Europe s largest academic bookshop 184 Aside from these branches Waterstones operates a number of large shops which are set over multiple floors Waterstones refers to these shops as superstores 3 Piccadilly London formerly Simpsons of Piccadilly flagship branch with six floors and an estimated 8 1 2 miles of shelving 185 In 2012 the head office of the company was moved to the shop 186 Gower Street London academic branch with five floors and 5 miles of shelving 187 Sidney Street Cambridge set over four floors and containing two cafes Albion Street Leeds set over three floors College Lane Liverpool two floors including the largest open plan floor of books in Europe 188 Deansgate Manchester three floors with over 100 000 books in stock 189 Milsom Street Bath three floors with over 55 000 books in stock 190 La Scala Cinema 191 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow five floors set in a former cinema 192 Bridlesmith Gate Nottingham five floors 193 Shops of architectural and historical interest Kalverstraat Amsterdam designed by Dutch architect Hendrick Petrus Berlage Wool Exchange Bradford High Street Birmingham formerly Times Furniture Company Dolphin amp Anchor West Street Chichester West End Princes Street Edinburgh Corn Exchange Lincoln Emerson Chambers Newcastle upon Tyne William Baker House Cornmarket St Oxford Fishergate Preston formerly Booths grocery and head office Broad Street Reading formerly Broad Street Independent Chapel The Tontines Building Parliament Row Stoke on Trent The Carlton Cinema SwanseaSee also EditBooks in the United Kingdom Hatchards HMV GroupReferences Edit Waterstones to open new bookshops in London Lichfield Suffolk and Oldham The Bookseller 22 April 2022 Waterstones sales profit up in year to April 2022 20 January 2023 a b c About Us Waterstones com Help Waterstones waterstones com Bookshops in the UK and Europe Waterstones Retrieved 24 September 2016 a b Flood Alison 28 February 2014 Waterstones boss James Daunt We can sell enough books to stay alive Retrieved 24 September 2016 via The Guardian a b Waterstone s a history The Telegraph London 20 May 2011 Retrieved 17 January 2012 a b c d e WH Smith PLC History of WH Smith 1990 Today WH Smith Company Information Retrieved 17 January 2012 James Daunt the man who saved Waterstones Evening Standard 10 December 2014 Retrieved 4 September 2019 a b Sillitoe Ben 29 June 2011 HMV Group completes sale of Waterstone s Retail Gazette Archived from the original on 25 September 2011 Retrieved 29 June 2011 a b Find your local Waterstone s Waterstones Retrieved 28 January 2012 a b Waterstones buys Foyles to defend bookshops against Amazon BBC News 7 September 2018 Retrieved 8 September 2018 Cafe W to be rolled out at Waterstones Retrieved 24 September 2016 a b Jones Philip 21 May 2012 Waterstones signs Kindle deal with Amazon The Bookseller Retrieved 21 May 2012 a b Shepherd Jack 8 October 2015 Waterstones to remove Amazon s Kindle from shops The Independent Retrieved 1 May 2017 a b The Children s Laureate Retrieved 19 January 2012 a b Waterstones Children s Bookprize Waterstones Retrieved 19 January 2012 a b Thompson John L Martin Frank 2010 Strategic Management Awareness amp Change Cengage Learning p 401 ISBN 978 1 4080 1807 1 Blackhurst Chris 5 October 1997 Profile Tim Waterstone A battle of heart and head The Independent London Retrieved 3 October 2013 a b Walker Tim 14 March 2011 Do bookshops have a future The Independent London Retrieved 17 January 2012 a b Waterstone coy on bid for book chain The Bookseller 7 February 2011 Retrieved 17 January 2012 Cassidy Suzanne 7 October 1991 THE MEDIA BUSINESS British Book Shops in Price Skirmishes The New York Times Retrieved 17 January 2012 Jordison Sam 17 June 2010 Time to bring back the net book agreement The Guardian London Retrieved 6 February 2012 Dermarzio Paula 12 June 2006 HMV s CEO Alan Giles set to quit ABC Money News Retrieved 19 January 2012 Rosen Judith 17 May 1999 Waterstone s Looking to Sell Boston Stores Publisher Weekly Retrieved 17 January 2012 Amazon in Waterstones Deal BBC News BBC 26 July 2001 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Waterstones and Dyslexia Action Waterstones Archived from the original on 26 August 2011 Retrieved 19 January 2012 HMV Group appoints Gerry Johnson as Managing Director of Waterstones HMV Group 8 September 2005 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Rowe James 18 July 2006 Simon Fox appoint CEO of HMV ABC Money News Retrieved 19 January 2012 Founder in bid for Waterstones BBC News BBC 24 April 2006 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Founder ends bid for Waterstones BBC News BBC 2 May 2006 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Waterstone s Goes It Alone Online BBC News BBC 9 May 2006 Retrieved 27 May 2010 Jones Philip 9 August 2007 Waterstones Card goes Nationwide The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Waterstones Brand Refresh and Environment NewEdge Archived from the original on 1 April 2012 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Neill Graeme 19 November 2007 Waterstones closes first ever Branch The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Neill Graeme 13 January 2009 Waterstone s Redundancies The Bookseller Archived from the original on 17 January 2009 Davey James 12 January 2009 Waterstone s planning redundancies Reuters Neill Graeme 27 March 2008 Waterstone s Stocks Sony Reader The Bookseller Archived from the original on 25 December 2008 Jones Philip 19 November 2009 Waterstones rolls out second hand bookstore The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Wearden Graeme 14 January 2010 Waterstone s chief pays the price for poor Christmas sales The Guardian London Retrieved 27 May 2010 Jones Philip 14 January 2010 Mr Fixit takes helm at Waterstones The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Neill Graeme 29 March 2010 Myers plans to rejuvenate Waterstone s The Bookseller Archived from the original on 29 May 2010 a b Gallagher Victoria 11 May 2010 Waterstone s flexible rebrand to reclaim the high street The Bookseller Archived from the original on 15 May 2010 Waterstones and Rainbow Trust Children s Charity Waterstone s Archived from the original on 29 December 2011 Retrieved 19 January 2012 HMV to close 60 shops and sales and shares slump BBC News BBC 5 January 2011 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Wearden Graeme Bowers Simon Wood Zoe 5 January 2011 HMV issues profit warning after grim Christmas The Guardian London Dublin branches of Waterstones close RTE News RTE News 6 February 2011 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Campbell Lisa 1 February 2011 Waterstones to close 11 stores by end of week The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Campbell Lisa 22 November 2011 Waterstones close Milton Keynes Branch The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Sweney Mark 20 May 2011 HMV sells Waterstone s for 53m The Guardian London Retrieved 31 May 2011 Horn Caroline 27 May 2011 Children s publishers welcome Waterstone s sale The Bookseller Retrieved 31 May 2011 Hall James 20 May 2011 Daunt parachuted in to run Waterstones The Telegraph London Retrieved 19 January 2012 Campbell Lisa 5 October 2011 Waterstones announced Board of Directors The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Waterstones drops 3 for 2 deal BBC News BBC 1 September 2011 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Campbell Lisa 14 October 2011 Waterstone branches roll out bespoke offer The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Campbell Lisa 11 January 2012 Waterstones reverts to original logo drops apostrophe The Bookseller Retrieved 19 January 2012 Waterstones unveils new logo Press Release PDF Waterstones Archived from the original PDF on 31 January 2012 Retrieved 6 February 2012 a b Waterstone s drops name apostrophe BBC News BBC 12 January 2012 Retrieved 13 January 2012 Crystal David 13 January 2012 On Waterstone s D C Blog Retrieved 19 January 2012 Campbell Lisa 25 January 2012 Waterstones to open Russian bookshop The Bookseller Retrieved 27 January 2012 Jones Philip 2 March 2012 Waterstones Russian store sets agenda for chain The Bookseller Retrieved 21 May 2012 McCrum Robert 20 May 2012 Waterstones boss poised to join the e reader battle The Observer London Retrieved 21 May 2012 Jones Philip 21 May 2012 Daunt Waterstones customers want Kindle The Bookseller Retrieved 21 May 2012 Campbell Lisa 22 May 2012 Daunt tens of millions going into Waterstones refit The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 a b Daunt planning more stores plus click and collect The Bookseller 28 May 2012 Retrieved 18 January 2013 a b Jones Philip 16 November 2012 Waterstones Special Daunt The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 Waterstones rolls out Cafe W PeachesReport Retrieved 18 January 2013 Campbell Lisa 25 October 2012 Waterstones welcomes Kindle with light hearted campaign The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 Farrington Joshua 6 December 2012 Waterstones branded screensavers prompt complaints The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 Campbell Lisa 5 October 2012 Waterstones begins new branding push The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 a b c d Farrington Joshua 5 December 2012 Watford Waterstone s to close The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 a b Campbell Lisa 26 July 2012 Waterstones in Bromsgrove closes The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 Allen Katie 22 February 2012 Waterstones to close Epsom store The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 Ebrahimi Helia 5 February 2013 Waterstones boss pledges to revive company s fortunes after a 37m loss Telegraph co uk Retrieved 1 May 2017 Rankin Jennifer 4 October 2013 Waterstones can live with Amazon and stem losses says James Daunt The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 1 May 2013 Major restructure for Waterstones management staff The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Farrington Joshua 13 November 2013 Departures at Waterstones in buying evolution The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 6 September 2013 Waterstones restructure nears completion The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 25 February 2013 Waterstones to launch bookselling certificate The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 22 October 2013 Folio partners with Waterstones The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Book Trust Waterstones com Help Waterstones waterstones com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Dennys Harriet 4 February 2014 Waterstones turns a corner under Russian ownership Telegraph co uk Retrieved 1 May 2017 First Costa now Waterstones could be final straw for sleepy Southwold The Independent 20 June 2014 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 1 July 2014 Eastleigh and St Neots Waterstones to close The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Nias Simon Waterstones senior comms duo depart PR Week Retrieved 1 May 2017 McCarthy John Waterstones renews partnership with digital marketing agency Epiphany The Drum Retrieved 1 May 2017 Rigby Chloe 31 July 2015 Waterstones turns to data driven technology to put the bookshop experience online InternetRetailing InternetRetailing Retrieved 1 May 2017 Sillitoe Ben 24 September 2014 Waterstones places focus on in store point of sale Essential Retail Essential Retail Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 1 July 2015 Waterstones to introduce contactless payment The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Bausells Marta 21 October 2014 Night at the bookshop Waterstones stages a sleepover after a tourist got trapped in the store The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Bowers Simon 5 February 2015 Waterstones reduces losses despite dip in sales The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 24 June 2015 Daunt higher energy booksellers at Waterstones The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 15 January 2015 blinkbox Books to close after Waterstones talks fail The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 13 May 2017 Waterstones quits ebooks hands business to Kobo SEENIT 23 May 2016 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Rodionova Zlata 23 May 2016 Waterstones is stopping selling e books The Independent Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 23 May 2016 Waterstones exits duopoly e book market The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 13 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 25 September 2015 Waterstones launches Books for Syria appeal to raise 1m The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Waterstones Wimbledon to close next month The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Brown Graeme 1 October 2015 New giant Apple store to open in Waterstones New Street building birminghammail Retrieved 1 May 2017 Bookshop rumour confirmed Rye News Rye News 18 June 2015 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Metcalfe Neil Waterstones to bring a bookshop back to Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Hatfield Times Retrieved 1 May 2017 Armstrong Ashley 3 February 2016 Waterstones turns a page as sales rise Telegraph co uk Retrieved 1 May 2017 Onuwuemez Natasha 11 April 2016 Daunt Amazon defines how Waterstones acts The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Faull Jennifer 26 February 2016 Waterstones e commerce boss Fix the basics before showboating The Drum Retrieved 1 May 2017 MacDougall Lauren 19 October 2016 Waterstones in Canterbury is about to open a new floor and a 200 seat events space Kent Live Retrieved 1 May 2017 Davis Ben 5 May 2016 How canonical tags helped Waterstones solve a product ranking nightmare Econsultancy Retrieved 1 May 2017 a b Campbell Lisa 9 June 2016 Waterstones to close two stores but open one in Wimbledon The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Cowdrey Katherine 13 January 2016 Waterstones closes Reading Oracle store The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 6 April 2016 Waterstones opens Harpenden Books The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Russell Jennifer 15 December 2016 Waterstones officially opening at Glasgow Fort this weekend glasgowlive Retrieved 1 May 2017 Sabharwal Veebs 14 August 2015 Waterstones to open a three storey store as customers return to reading books Retail Gazette Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 25 August 2016 Waterstones to return to Watford The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 4 February 2016 Trade praises fresh new Waterstones store The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 31 October 2016 Waterstones launches new refugee campaign after escalation of crisis The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Wood Zoe 14 June 2016 Waterstones boss warns staff job cuts will follow if UK leaves EU The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Armitstead Claire 3 February 2017 Balancing the books how Waterstones came back from the dead The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Bury Rhiannon 1 February 2017 Waterstones returns to profit thanks to a return to traditional bookselling The Telegraph Retrieved 1 May 2017 Slatterly Laura 28 February 2017 Waterstones profits in Ireland double in year to April 2016 The Irish Times Retrieved 1 May 2017 Conway Joeseph Waterstones hopes to open more stores in Ireland newstalk com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Campbell Lisa 2 August 2016 Waterstones four board members step down The Bookseller thebookseller com Retrieved 1 May 2017 Waterstones raises 300 000 for BookTrust Charity Today News Charity Today News 23 March 2016 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Hoggan Karen 26 April 2018 Waterstones bookshop chain sold to Elliott Advisors BBC News Retrieved 28 April 2018 Campbell Lisa 6 June 2018 Waterstones sale to Elliott completes The Bookseller Retrieved 30 May 2019 Eley Jonathan 26 April 2018 Activist fund Elliott buys British bookstore Waterstones Financial Times Archived from the original on 10 December 2022 Retrieved 28 April 2018 Chandler Mark 2021 Waterstones to open Next concession store in new partnership The Bookseller Williams Angus 25 April 2022 New Waterstones for retail park in Ipswich East Anglia Daily Times Waterstones acquires Blackwell s the UK s biggest independent bookseller the Guardian 28 February 2022 Retrieved 18 April 2022 a b c WH Smith unloads book shop chain BBC News BBC 25 February 1998 Retrieved 6 January 2012 Davies John 8 May 1998 Bookstore wars are brewing The Times UK Times Higher Education Supplement Retrieved 6 January 2012 Mesure Susie 1 June 2006 Authors mourn takeover of Ottakar s The Independent London Retrieved 6 January 2012 HMV Ottakar s deal gets go ahead BBC News BBC 12 May 2006 Retrieved 6 September 2012 Seawright Stephen 31 May 2006 Ottakar s falls to Waterstone The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 11 March 2007 Retrieved 27 May 2010 Mesure Susie 7 July 2006 HMV axes Ottakar brand and 100 jobs as sales continue to slide The Independent London Independent News amp Media Archived from the original on 4 November 2012 Retrieved 27 May 2010 Neill Graeme 18 August 2008 Waterstone s Takes Over Books etc Stores The Bookseller Oxford bookseller Blackwell s sold to Waterstones BBC News 1 March 2022 Retrieved 18 April 2022 Parry Tom 19 November 2012 Fairer Trading Your Essential Guide on how to Dodge the Tax Avoiders Daily Mirror Daunt questions Amazon over tax subsidies The Bookseller Retrieved 24 September 2016 Margaret Hodge tells Amazon to pay a fair tax The Independent London 9 May 2014 Garside Juliette 15 May 2013 Amazon paid 3m tax on 4bn UK sales The Guardian Retrieved 24 September 2016 Media reports on Waterstones torrid results The Bookseller Retrieved 24 September 2016 Daunt Two years to transform Waterstones The Bookseller Retrieved 24 September 2016 Tax avoidance by e reader and bookshop companies Ethical Consumer May 2013 in the special report Buying books without Amazon About Us Waterstones com Help Waterstones Retrieved 24 September 2016 Dennys Harriet 2 February 2014 Waterstones turns a corner under Russian ownership The Daily Telegraph London a b Southwold Bookshop Waterstones store will damage character of town BBC News 18 July 2014 Retrieved 2 May 2017 O Connor Roisin 28 February 2017 Waterstones defends unbranded shops after accusations of subterfuge The Independent Retrieved 2 May 2017 Matthews Jane 26 February 2017 Don t judge a bookshop by its cover shoppers warned as Waterstones opens three unbranded stores The Telegraph Retrieved 2 May 2017 Waterstones row Are its unbranded stores fair or foul Retail Week 28 February 2017 Retrieved 2 May 2017 Whisper it small towns need a Waterstones The Guardian 1 March 2017 ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 2 May 2017 McLaughlin Martyn 1 March 2017 Martyn McLaughlin Outrage aimed at Waterstones is misdirected scotsman com Retrieved 2 May 2017 Taylor Matthew 27 February 2017 Waterstones chief defends decision to open unbranded stores The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 2 May 2017 Nwagbara Uzoechi 2011 Waterstone s and the Changing Bookselling Environment in the UK the Journey so far and Prospects PDF Petroleum Gas University of Ploiesti Bulletin LXII 3 14 26 p 20 Flood Alison 26 March 2019 Waterstones says it can t pay living wage as 1 300 authors support staff appeal The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 26 March 2019 Campbell Lisa 23 November 2012 Waterstones to sponsor prize for Russian non fiction The Bookseller Retrieved 18 January 2013 The Waterstones 11 Waterstones Archived from the original on 31 December 2011 Retrieved 19 January 2012 Guardian First Book Prize Waterstones Retrieved 19 January 2012 a b Campbell Lisa 30 November 2012 Polpo is Waterstones Book of the Year The Bookseller Retrieved 1 May 2017 Furness Hannah 3 December 2013 Stoner wins Waterstones Book of the Year 2013 Telegraph co uk Retrieved 1 May 2017 Masters Tim 1 December 2014 Miniaturist novel named Waterstones book of 2014 BBC News Retrieved 1 May 2017 Flood Alison 30 November 2015 Waterstones book of the year is Coralie Bickford Smith s debut The Fox and the Star The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 The Essex Serpent beats Harry Potter to win Waterstones book of the year The Guardian 30 November 2016 ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Waterstones Book of the Year 2017 Winner La Belle Sauvage Book of Dust Volume One Waterstones 30 November 2017 Retrieved 3 December 2017 McCartney wins Waterstones Book of the Year for The Lyrics Books Publishing 3 December 2021 Retrieved 7 December 2021 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Shaffi Sarah 1 December 2022 Paint him out Katy Hessel s retelling of art history is Waterstones book of the year The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 18 May 2023 Crown Sarah 10 January 2005 First time author wins Ottakar s inaugural Children s Book Prize The Guardian London Retrieved 24 January 2012 Author wins top prize at awards BBC News BBC 27 January 2006 Retrieved 24 January 2012 Horn Caroline 17 March 2011 Hothouse Fiction expand team The Bookseller Retrieved 24 January 2012 Flood Alison 14 February 2008 Nicholls takes Waterstones prize The Bookseller Retrieved 24 January 2012 Pauli Michelle 18 February 2009 Debut author takes Waterstone s children s book prize The Guardian London Retrieved 24 January 2012 Pauli Michelle 10 February 2010 Great Hamster Massacre wins Waterstone s children s books prize The Guardian London Retrieved 24 January 2012 Horn Caroline 10 February 2011 Debut author wins Waterstone s Children s Book Prize The Bookseller Retrieved 24 January 2012 Jonny Duddle wins Waterstones Children s Book Prize BBC News 28 March 2012 Retrieved 23 May 2012 Pauli Michelle 21 March 2013 Annabel Pitcher wins Waterstones children s book prize The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Tightrope walking academic Katherine Rundell wins 10th Waterstones Children s Book Prize The Independent London 3 April 2014 Drabble Emily 26 March 2015 Rob Biddulph wins Waterstones children s book prize 2015 with debut Blown Away The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 David Solomons wins Waterstones Children s Book Prize with debut BBC News 17 March 2016 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Kean Danuta 30 March 2017 Waterstones children s book prize goes to mesmerising debut adventure story The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 1 May 2017 Page Benedicte Children s laureate takes on Waterstone s branding The Bookseller The Bookseller Retrieved 6 January 2012 About the Children s Laureate Children s Laureate Retrieved 1 May 2017 The Waterstones Children s Laureate Chris Riddell Waterstones waterstones com Retrieved 1 May 2017 a b Waterstone s 11 Waterstone s Archived from the original on 31 December 2011 Retrieved 6 January 2012 Waterstone s unveils debut authors book list BBC News BBC 20 January 2011 Retrieved 6 January 2012 Carlos Acosta makes Waterstones debut prize shortlist BBC News 14 January 2013 Retrieved 15 January 2013 Waterstones London Piccadilly Retrieved 24 September 2016 Waterstones London Gower Street Retrieved 24 September 2016 Waterstone s Piccadilly Waterstone s Retrieved 5 January 2012 Waterstones to move head office to Piccadilly The Bookseller Retrieved 24 September 2016 Waterstone s Gower Street Waterstone s Retrieved 6 January 2012 Waterstone s Liverpool Retrieved 12 February 2017 Waterstone s Deansgate Waterstone s Retrieved 5 January 2012 Waterstone s Bath Milsom Street Waterstone s Retrieved 5 January 2012 La Scala Cinema Scottishcinema Retrieved 6 January 2012 Waterstone s Glasgow Sauchiehall Street Waterstone s Retrieved 6 January 2012 Waterstone s Nottingham Bridlesmith Waterstone s Retrieved 6 January 2012 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waterstones Official website Portals Books Companies United Kingdom Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Waterstones amp oldid 1171741551, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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