British Bookshops & Stationers attracts offers as bid deadline expires

The bookseller has attracted “several encouraging offers for the business”, according to administrators Zolfo Cooper.

Sources told Retail Week it is unlikely that British Bookshop & Stationers’ managing director John Simpson is still in the running. He is understood to have launched a management buyout attempt to rescue the business, as revealed by Retail Week last week.

Zolfo Cooper has continued to trade the business throughout the process, launching a period of “strong discounting” last weekend, “designed to maximise footfall and protect the value of the business for potential buyers”.

Zolfo Cooper partner Simon Appell said: “Trading across the business has been strong since the discounting programme began at the weekend.

“It would be highly premature to discuss any possible store closures at this point in the process, however we can confirm that we’ve received several encouraging offers for the business and will now be reviewing these.

“We will now continue to talk to interested parties with a view to a potential sale. In the meantime, we’d like to continue to thank staff for their efforts across the business.”

Last week 40 head office staff were made redundant.