Independent booksellers Topping & Company set to reopen on Monday after surviving lockdown drop in sales

Family-run Topping & Company Booksellers had to close its stores in Edinburgh, Ely, Bath, and St Andrews in accordance with government guidelines back in March and the company had to furlough almost all of its 50 employees.

But the booksellers on Blenheim Place in Edinburgh has survived the drop in sales and is set to open its doors again on Monday 29 June.With face-to-face transactions previously making up around 95 per cent of sales, their figures dropped significantly and their popular literary events and reading groups were all cancelled.

Co-founder Robert Topping and his son, Hugh, adapted how they worked by selling books over the phone from their homes and improving the company’s website to increase online revenue.The business continued to work with authors from across the UK to curate reading lists and collections for visitors to its website, and delivered signed copies of the latest fiction and non-fiction books to its loyal base of subscribers every month. However, these measures still left Topping & Company Booksellers surviving on 20 per cent of sales compared with before lockdown.The £250,000 loan from banking partner Lloyds Bank, via the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), meant the company could continue to pay for stock while its stores were closed.Encouragingly, sales in Ely and Bath, both which reopened earlier this month in England, have already returned to normal and Robert Topping cites current political and societal movements as a key factor in the rise in sales.He said: “The relationship between a community and its independent bookshop is something unique, especially in times of uncertainty. We’ve seen so many political and societal changes in the first half of 2020, so it’s no surprise that we’ve seen an uplift in sales of non-fiction and current affairs books, especially on the topic of race due to the Black Lives Matter movement. We’ve also heard from customers that they’re particularly keen to support independent bookstores during these times – knowing the competition we face from major online retailers.“Lloyds Bank’s support has been vital in getting us through a difficult period to where we are now, on the brink of having all four stores back up and running and with sales getting there too. That’s the advantage of having a relationship manager who knows our business inside out from a bank that’s supported us all these years.”Scott Murphy, relationship manager at Lloyds Bank, added: “It’s wonderful to see Topping & Company Booksellers making great strides in its recovery after an uncertain few months. We will continue to be by the side of the business to ensure it emerges from lockdown in as strong a position as possible, and we’ll be supporting other firms across all sectors to do the same.”

Award-winning independent bookseller Golden Hare Books in Stockbridge’s St Stephen Street has also announced that they will open again on Monday.