The Bookseller reports on independent bookseller reactions to the proposed merger between wholesalers Bertrams and Woolworths subsidiary Entertainment UK, currently up for scrutiny by the Competition Commission. Independent bookseller James Daunt has claimed that Entertainment UK’s proposed acquisition of Bertrams would be good news for the independent sector. In evidence submitted to the Competition Commission, Daunt argued that the merged wholesaler’s greater buying power “could be used to drive up discounts on the supplies going to booksellers and the benefit would be passed down to consumers.” He added: “A healthy independent bookshop sector [is] in the wholesalers’ long-term interests and booksellers should see the wholesalers as effective negotiators on their behalf with the publishers.”
But Martin Grindley of Grindley’s Bookshop said he did not believe the merger would make Bertrams any more powerful in negotiations. “Indeed, the potential for a hardening in terms would be greater, resulting in a weakened ability by the independent sector to deliver competitive prices and services to their customers and diminishing their chances of survival,” he said. The Commission will issue its report on September 14th.