I’ll post this up on the site tomorrow in a high res downloady version. Unless anyone asks me not to.

Posted by Dave at 10:40 pm on April 30, 2008 and filed under Cartoons, Church, Religion.

13 Comments

Church Times: Former SPCK shops to be auctioned

Update: Guide prices for the four shops for sale have now been posted on the Colliers CRE site.

14 North Parade Bradford Guide Price: £150,000
7 St Peter’s Street Canterbury Guide Price: £520,000
1-2 Catherine Street, Cathedral Yard Exeter Guide Price: £500,000
28 Goodramgate York Guide Price: £320,000

Posted by Dave at 11:17 pm on April 24, 2008 and filed under Save the SPCK, Religion.

18 Comments

I notice that the webpage for one of the projects I have been working on is now up: What am I Doing Here? - A Beginner’s Guide to Church by Hilary Brand. It is published by Church House Publishing.

I’d tell you more, but I’ve a train to catch.

Posted by Dave at 11:04 am on April 24, 2008 and filed under Books, Religion.

5 Comments

Some people have commented that it is a bit quiet on this site apart from bookshop-related posts. This is just a reminder to say that I’m continuing to post things over at the Church Times blog on at least a daily basis (except at weekends, when it might be a little less). My most recent posts over there:

• Archbishop posts Lambeth video
• Zimbabwean Christians call for a World Day of Prayer on Sunday
• Counter extremist think tank launched
• The Pentecost Festival
• Choral singing is good for you

You can keep up to date via the feed, which is here.

Posted by Dave at 5:50 pm on April 23, 2008 and filed under Religion, Church Times blog.

4 Comments

PRESS RELEASE - for immediate release.

ST PAULS is delighted to announce they are to open a shop in York.

The shop at 5 King’s Square, in the heart of the shopping centre of York, is a short walk from York Minster and the Shrine of St Margaret Clitherow on the famous Shambles.

Covering 2,000+ square feet, it will stock a full range of books, devotional articles, church furnishings, vestments, Christian cards, gifts, audio/visual material etc..

It will also contain a second-hand religious book department - itself a new venture for ST PAULS.

The shop will open in September and will be a valuable addition to their shops in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Hinsley Hall and Athlone (Ireland).

This will make ST PAULS the largest chain of Catholic bookshops in the country.

Stephen Moseling, Operations Co-ordinator for ST PAULS said:

“At this time of change and uncertainty within the Christian publishing and retail trades, with shops from various denominations closing, it is very exciting for us at ST PAULS to be opening a shop in York. Over the past 18 months many Christian publishers have expressed concerns about the future of Christian retail, but with the opening of our shop in York my hope is that we can reassure them, and the public, that ST PAULS is determined to keep a Christian presence on the High Street. As in all our shops, we will be at the service of Christians of all denominations and we ask for their support and prayers at this exciting time.”

ST PAULS is an activity of the Society of St Paul, a worldwide religious congregation of priests and brothers whose apostolate is to proclaim the Gospel through the various means of communication. See www.stpauls.it

Further information may be obtained from Stephen Moseling at the above address or via email stephen (at) stpauls.org.uk

Links:

St Pauls UK
Società San Paolo

Posted by Dave at 2:40 pm on April 23, 2008 and filed under Save the SPCK, Religion, Christian bookshops.

4 Comments

A gathering of former SPCK bookshop staff is being organised. It will be at 2 pm on Wednesday 14th May at The Bear public house, 71 High Street, Esher, London, Surrey, KT10 9RQ. This is a 5 to 10 minute walk from Sandown Park where the Christian Resources Exhibition will be taking place. Publishers reps are welcome to come and say hello. Some members of the press have been invited, but there is no compulsion to speak to them.

Phelim McIntyre, a regular contributor to the comments here, is organising it and I believe still has some free CRE tickets. You can e-mail him on phelimmcintyre (at) hotmail.com - I’m sure he will respond to questions left in the comments as well.

I’m planning to be there. As an aside - please note that the telephone number that I have posted on this site is no longer working. The answerphone still works, but I can’t get the messages. It isn’t anything to do with the fact I have lost the phone or anything embarrassing like that.

Posted by Dave at 10:46 am on April 23, 2008 and filed under Festivals and Exhibitions, Save the SPCK.

15 Comments

Bradford, Canterbury, Exeter and York to close

Four SPCK shop buildings owned by St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust are up for sale:

Bradford
Canterbury
Exeter
York

These were gifted to SSG by SPCK on 31 October 2006 along with fixtures and fittings and stock. The net book value given to the properties in the 2007 SPCK Annual Report was £1.665 million.

The shops will be sold at auction in London by Colliers CRE on 13th May 2008.

I have been told that SSG also hold the freehold to the Truro shop, but I need clarification on that point. If so it will be the only shop building still owned by SSG if and when the sales of the other properties go through.

The other shops are all rented or, in the case of 6 shops, owned by SPCK but subject to a 7 year covenant. Details of the status of the various shops can be found here.

News reports:

• The Bookseller: SSG to sell four shops

Cardiff
On a happier note - there are plans to open a new shop in place of the former SPCK in Cardiff. Details here.

London
I can confirm that the London shop at Faith House, Tufton Street, Westminster closed on 11th April 2008. This post on the subject has been updated with pictures.

To find all of the SPCK/SSG posts on this site see the Save the SPCK category.

Posted by Dave at 10:01 am on April 21, 2008 and filed under Save the SPCK, Religion.

10 Comments

I couldn’t find this online anywhere, so I’ve posted it below. The press people sent it to me, so I’m assuming they’d like it to be seen. It is an article by Rob Frost, who sadly died in November 2007.

The Pentecost Festival is taking place in London from the 9th to the 11th of May 2008. See my post on the Church Times blog for more information.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Dave at 8:49 am on April 21, 2008 and filed under Festivals and Exhibitions, Religion.

3 Comments

I thought it would be useful to have a definitive list of the SSG (former SPCK) shops and their current status along with information about who owns the building (as that will be the most important factor influencing the likely future for each shop).

This is the situation as I understand it on 21st April 2008. Please note that there are likely to be some errors here for a few days at least until people correct them. The details I have put here are no doubt incomplete - it would take a long time to tell the whole story for each shop but I have tried to explain the situation concisely. If you can help to improve what I’ve written it would be much appreciated.

In north to south order (more or less):

Newcastle
Building owned by SPCK, but subject to 7 year covenant(1). The shop is currently open.

Carlisle
The building is rented. The shop closed on 31st March 2008 was reopened with new staff. Current status: open.

Durham
Durham Cathedral bookshop. There was controversy in October / November 2007 when the manager was sacked following negotiations about the possible transfer of the shop. The cathedral authorities allowed this to occur without public comment. A new company has now been set up to run this shop, the exact status of which is unknown. The shop is currently open.

York
Shop building owned by SSG (gifted by SPCK, October 2006)(2). The shop is currently open. Update: The shop building is being sold.

Bradford
Shop building owned by SSG (gifted by SPCK, October 2006)(2). The shop is currently open. Update: The shop building is being sold.

Sheffield
Shop building rented. The staff were sacked on February 5th and the shop closed following an exchange of press releases between SSG and the Cathedral authorities, but it has now reopened with new staff. The shop is currently open.

Lincoln
The building is rented. The staff were sacked on February 5th and the shop closed. The shop was reopened, but closed again on Friday March 14th. The property is being advertised as available to rent (property Reference: CP7383). The shop is closed.

Chester
Building owned by SPCK, but subject to 7 year covenant(1). The shop is currently open.

Norwich
The building is rented (?). The staff were sacked on February 5th and the shop closed. As far as I am aware it is now open again.

Leicester
This shop was said to be independent, but I don’t know whether that is the case or the details of the arrangement. It has been renamed ‘Christian Resources’ and has a basic website here. The shop is currently open.

Birmingham
The status of this shop has changed several times in the last couple of months. As far as I am aware it remains open at present.

Cambridge
The building is rented. The shop building is being let, meaning that the shop will close, but at the time of writing it is still open.

Worcester
Building owned by SPCK, but subject to 7 year covenant(1). The staff were sacked on 7th February and the shop is apparently being run by just the manager. The shop is open.

Hereford
Building owned by SPCK, but subject to 7 year covenant(1). It has been said in the comments on this site that this shop is closed, but I have no further information. Another report says that the shop is now semi-independent. Can anyone confirm this?

Cardiff
The shop was in the City Church United Reformed Church and SSG had the premises at a peppercorn rent. The shop closed permanently on 31st March 2008, but there are plans for something new - see this webpage.

Bristol
The original building was sold by SPCK and was not part of the transfer to SSG. The building used by the shop for the last year had been rented. The shop was closed permanently towards the end of March 2008.

London
The building was rented. The shop was closed on Friday 11th April 2008.

Canterbury
Shop building owned by SSG (gifted by SPCK, October 2006)(2). This shop was to close, but was then reprieved. As far as I am are it is currently open. Update: The shop building is being sold.

Salisbury
Building owned by SPCK, but subject to 7 year covenant(1). The shop is currently open.

Winchester
Building owned by SPCK, but subject to 7 year covenant(1). The current manager rents the building from SSG but the shop is now independent in terms of stock etc. The shop is open.

Chichester
The building is an historic church owned by the Diocese of Chichester. SSG uses it rent free but are responsible for the upkeep of the fabric of the building. At one point a plan to turn it back into a church was mentioned by Mark Brewer. A new company has been set up to run this shop, the exact status of which is unknown. The shop is open.

Exeter
Shop building owned by SSG (gifted by SPCK, October 2006)(2). The shop made the news in October 2007 when the entire staff resigned. The shop is open. Update: The shop building is being sold.

Truro
Shop building possibly owned by SSG (gifted by SPCK, October 2006)(2) or owned by SPCK and subject to a seven year covenant. I am told that this shop is now semi-independent. The shop is open.

Notes:
(1) If certain conditions are met the ownership of these buildings transfers from SPCK to SSG after 7 years - I make that October 2013. From the 2007 SPCK Annual Report: “SPCK also agreed to grant leases to SSGCT, at peppercorn rents, on certain other freehold properties for a period of seven years, after which time they will be transferred to SSGCT if the SPCK Bookshops Group remains in operation on an agreed basis.”
(2) Again, from the Annual Report: “In the event, it was decided by a unanimous vote at the trustees’ meeting that the bookshops should be transferred to St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust. This charity undertook not only to take on all the staff and to try to keep all the shops open, but also to ensure that the stockholding carried a breadth of materials from a variety of Christian denominations, including those of differing views on contentious current debates.
This transfer seemed significantly better than any achievable alternative, leaving the staff in place and the Society with the opportunity to re-group and begin to move towards a more sustainable financial future”

In case anyone is confused:
SSG: Saint Stephen the Great Charitable Trust run by Mark and Phil Brewer. Took over the running of the bookshops in October 2006. Also known as Third Space Books on some occasions.
SPCK: Anglican Missionary society founded in 1698. Former owners of the bookshop chain. SSG was allowed to trade under the SPCK name until October 2007.

Summary of ownership of the buildings:
If my maths and information are correct:

• 4 or 5 shop buildings were given to SSG.
• 6 or 7 shop buildings are still owned by SPCK, but subject to a 7 year covenant.
• The rest of the buildings are rented or (in one or two cases?) subject to a rent-free arrangement of some sort.

Posted by Dave at 8:23 pm on April 19, 2008 and filed under Anglican goings-on, Save the SPCK, Religion.

10 Comments

On Fridays I usually go into the City of London to the Church Times offices. I do some work on the blog and discuss things to do with my Church Times work.

Sometimes I walk there from Fenchurch street station. Yesterday I got a bit lost in the Barbican. I was taking a short cut but went astray. It is my suspicion that a good 20-30% of the people in the Barbican at any one time are people taking shortcuts who have gone a bit astray.

At lunchtime a few of us went to the food market at Whitecross street. I had one of the tasty Italian sausages in a wrap. The man on the right does the cooking, whereas the job of the man in the left is to stir the onions, ask the customers for their orders, assemble the sausage wraps, dispense the sauces and deal with the money. I’d say the man on the right has an easier job, but it ultimately carries greater responsibility.

Posted by Dave at 12:37 pm on April 19, 2008 and filed under Mundane.

5 Comments

This is the first new ‘cartoon’ (if you can call it that) I’ve posted here for several years.

I have made some progress and I thought I would report back to any interested parties who have not given up on me as a lost cause.

The pages for the 2009 calendar are now in. That is what I have spent way too much of the last three months doing. I just have some bits to do for the cover. The cartoons for book number 2 have also been sent off - there are just bits and bobs to be done like the deciding on the order that the cartoons will be in. I have also done some cartoons for another book that will be coming out in the summer - I think five plus the cover artwork are done and two aren’t.

I am starting another smaller freelance job this week, but all in all the pressure should soon start to ease a bit, which should mean that I’ll be able to get back to adding some decent content to this site and a lot of other jobs that I have been badly neglecting. Thanks for still reading even though the service has been a bit variable.

Posted by Dave at 2:34 pm on April 14, 2008 and filed under Cartoons, CartoonChurch progress.

10 Comments

I’m hearing rumours that the London SSG / former SPCK shop is closing or has closed. I have no reason the disbelieve them. Can anyone confirm or deny this is the case? I’ve tried phoning the shop but there is no reply (Updated to add - as there wouldn’t be, it being Saturday when the shop isn’t open).

The London shop is also the home of the former SPCK rare books, “the oldest and best established of the specialist theological booksellers”:

We have a very long association with publishing and distributing religious and theological books; our principal modern involvement with antiquarian and rare bookselling dates from 1976 when SPCK acquired the long established London firm of Charles Higham (est.1862). We are located at Faith House, a fine Lutyens building close to Westminster Abbey and in a well-known ‘ecclesiastical’ street.

Until 2003 the shop was the Church Union Bookshop - see a Church Times report from the time of its closure.

Update: I can confirm that the London shop closed on 11th April 2008. Some pictures are below. I’m afraid they make for rather sad viewing:
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Dave at 11:08 am on April 12, 2008 and filed under Save the SPCK, Religion.

15 Comments