WH Smith has announced plans for a major restructuring that could cut up to 1,500 jobs across the company, which operates about 1,400 shops that are primarily at airports, train stations, downtowns, highway stops and hospitals, and sells books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment and travel products, and some food. The retailer said that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, "reduced passenger numbers and lower footfall in towns and cities meant it was reviewing its store operation across its travel and High Street business," the Bookseller reported.
"This has been a very difficult decision and we are committed to supporting all our colleagues throughout this process and ensuring it is conducted fairly," WH Smith said, adding that it has launched a collective consultation on a proposed restructure, with the costs associated expected to be between £15 million (about $18.8 million) million and £19 million (about $23.8 million). The group added that it expects a headline loss before tax for the fiscal year ending August 31 of between £70 million (about $87.7 million) and £75 million (about $94 million). Total group revenue was down 57% in July compared to the same time last year, with High Street declining 25% and falling 73% in travel, according to the company.
"Throughout the pandemic, we have responded quickly and taken decisive actions to protect the business including substantially strengthening our financial position," CEO Carl Cowling said. "We have also welcomed support from government where available.
"In our travel business, while we are beginning to see early signs of recovery in some of our markets, the speed of recovery continues to be slow. At the same time, while there has been some progress in our High Street business, it does continue to be adversely affected by low levels of footfall. As a result, we now need to take further action to reduce costs across our businesses. I regret that this will have an impact on a significant number of colleagues whose roles will be affected by these necessary actions, and we will do everything we can to support them at this challenging time.
"While we are mindful of the continuing uncertainties that exist, we are a resilient and versatile business. The operational actions we are taking along with the financing arrangements that are in place, put us in a strong position to navigate this time of uncertainty and we are well positioned to benefit in due course from the recovery of our key markets."
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The Booksellers Association of the U.K. & Ireland has taken over the publishing of Booktime magazine "to support members, continuing to offer the magazine free of charge to indies, with publisher advertising rates remaining the same." In May, the BA purchased Bertline from wholesaler Bertrams, which went out of business earlier this year.
The full editorial and design team will be retained on a freelance basis to continue producing the magazine, and the BA said it will be increasing the number of bookshops that receive the publication free to more than 400 stores, with an anticipated circulation of 20,000 readers for the autumn issue.
"We're delighted to be producing the next issue of Booktime, which has proved universally popular among book lovers and booksellers alike," said Alan Staton, the BA's director of strategy & communications. "At this pivotal time for bookshops in the U.K., when they need more support than ever before, we hope that publishers will support independent bookshops by booking advertising in the autumn issue."
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Noting that "too much of Australia's literary heritage is out of print," the Australian Society of Authors is working with a research team at the University of Melbourne and Australian public libraries on a pilot project to "breathe new life" into important OP titles by digitizing them, licensing them to public libraries for digital lending and making them available for sale as e-books.
ASA said that funding for the project will fully cover all digitization costs, and authors will receive royalties from libraries on loans, as well as any retail sales. At the same time, the research team will be conducting studies "to better understand the value of out-of-print books, library promotion activities, and the relationship between library lending and sales."
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Yesterday, the New York Times explored how Melbourne, Australia is becoming a case study in handling a second wave of Covid-19 infections in "a country that once thought it had the pandemic beat." Melbourne has now imposed some of the toughest restrictions in the world. "By Monday night, the city seemed to be in listening mode. The streets were emptying out, silent in hibernation," the Times wrote.
"It's like a Sunday in the 1950s," said Readings owner Mark Rubbo of the deserted shops and streets. He also noted that people were stocking up again on books through online orders, with The Happiest Man on Earth, a memoir by Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku published on July 28 by Pan Macmillan Australia, becoming a runaway hit. --Robert Gray