Feb 26, 2022
Waterstones poised to snap up Blackwell’s as book sales soar
Waterstones, the UK's largest bookseller, is close to buying its smaller rival Blackwell's, expanding its dominance in the British book sector as sales experience a revival. Blackwell's will continue to operate as its own brand, in the same way Foyles has since it was acquired by Waterstones in 2018. In 2021, UK book sales reached their highest point in a decade, according to data from Nielsen's, with 212mn print copies sold despite the closure of stores during Covid lockdowns. Barnes is run by former banker James Daunt, who founded Daunt Books in 1990 and took over as managing director of Waterstones in 2011. Waterstones made £376mn in sales in the year to April 2020, the most recent period for which accounts are available, a drop from £392.8mn the previous year as it began to be affected by the pandemic.
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