USDAW letter about the former SPCK bookshops

A letter from John Hannett, General Secretary of USDAW, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers was printed in the Church Times a week ago. The letter is now available on the Church Times website: Employment rights at SPCK bookshops.

Also in last week's Church Times: Ex-SPCK shops close branches and cut staff and hours.

From the Network Norwich website: Norwich SPCK sackings e-mail is revealed.

In Canterbury

I was in Canterbury yesterday. I was there for a Lambeth Conference meeting with some of the people who are doing the organising. I had a chance to wander around the university campus where the conference will be held which was interesting and very pleasant on a warm February afternoon.

Later in the day I visited the former SPCK shop in the centre of the city. The shop wasn't open by the time I got there, but I took a couple of pictures:




It was a shame to see it with the 'closing down' notice - a sad end for the Anglican bookshop in the Anglican city. As you can see there is no mention of reopening 'after re-fitting and re-stocking' as per the statement of February the 4th. The website is still openly promoted as spckonline.com.

I'm not sure whether the big image hanging over the upstairs window is St Stephen the Great. Perhaps someone who has a copy of 'I spy Saints' could advise.

Whilst we are on the subject of the Canterbury shop - if anyone who has been involved in the situation is willing to speak to someone from the media please get in touch.

Former SPCK shops: further job losses

Birmingham
As you may have seen from the comments sections the Birmingham shop is to close. The closure is permanent as far as I am aware. See the comments on this post for further details.

Exeter
This is last week's news, but I haven't yet posted it so I'm doing so now. Four staff from the Exeter shop were sacked last week. As I understand it one full time and one part time position remain.

Also:

Get together of former staff
Phelim McIntyre is organising a get-together of former staff on Wed 14th May at the Christian Resources Exhibition. I should be able to be there, all being well. If you're interested get in touch with Phelim, or contact me and I'll pass your details on.

[Apologies in advance for delay in comment moderation today and for e-mails not yet answered.]

Former SPCK shops: some glimmer of hope?

In Norwich local Christians are mobilising themselves. See Network Norwich : Rescue plan for Norwich Christian literature. They are also 'concerned about the potential loss of Christian literature in Norwich'. [Flippant aside which should be ignored: If you see any please hand it in.]

In Lincoln Unicorn Tree Books, run by a former SPCK manager reports on recent events and asks for local support so that they can supply church supplies.

Elsewhere I'm aware that new ventures are being seriously considered. I can't say anything more at the moment, but as soon as plans can be made public, they will be.

Other news
The Church Times has an article and a letter from Mr John Hannett of USDAW, but they are subscriber-only at the moment I'm afraid.

Update:

Birmingham
Report from the comments section: A former manager from the Birmingham shop has set up a market stall in the Birmingham Indoor Market. It's called The Gift Centre and she mainly deals in cards, rosaries, sacred hearts, statues, candles, incense and children's books, and suchlike.

SPCK / SSG latest

Worcester staff sacked
4 staff members at the Worcester SSG shop were sacked this afternoon.

Urgent request
Several media organisations are interested in the latest developments in the SSG / SPCK shop saga.

I'm in touch with the former Norwich staff, but it would be really useful to have some contacts who are willing to talk to the media at some of the other shops closed in the last week, in particular Sheffield. If you are willing to talk or can give me a contact please e-mail me dave at cartoonchurch.com or phone 07982 450593 (or my own personal numbers if you know them). Please indicate that you are willing for me to pass on your details - I won't pass on info without your permission. These are news organisations that you will have heard of.

Shops told to sell off stock
I'm just getting reports in that staff in the shops are today being told to:

1. Return as much stock as possible to the publishers suppliers for refunds
2. Put the remainder on sale at clearance prices
3. Approach local churches and offer them stock at a knockdown price

If anyone else can verify these reports please let me know.

Mark Brewer responds
Mark Brewer has commented on the recent shop closures:

SSG chairman Mark Brewer said: "This charity intends to carry on Christian bookselling in Norwich so long as we have the custom and support of the Christian community in the city.
"That support is particularly important at present in view of the challenging economic environment that virtually all High Street retailers are experiencing throughout the country."

Mr Brewer said the organization had not "sacked" the staff via email.

He said: "We have recently completed new contract consultations throughout the charity. Unfortunately, certain persons have chosen to terminate their employment rather than agree to the new contract. This is a matter of the employees' personal and individual choice; it is not the action of the charity."

Other links

• Phil Groom has posted 'Lies, Damned Lies and St Stephen the Great' at the UK Christian Bookshops site.
• This comment by Father Gregory Hallam of the Antiochian Orthodox Church gives an insight into the feelings of those in the Orthodox church in the UK.

This site

Apologies for the 500 errors that some of you got this morning and are perhaps continuing to get. It is a mystery to me but I'll add it to the 'to do' list.

SSG job franchises offered

From Jobs 4 Christians:

Do You Want Your Own Business But Lack the Capital?

If you have a missionary spirit, the ability to work independently and an affinity for retail, why not join our growing family of Christian resource and bookshops?

We are Saint Stephen the Great LLC (Registered Charity #1119839). We can provide a fully stocked and well-located retail shop without the usual up-front investment. We have wonderful opportunities for this exciting work throughout the country.

If you feel you have the qualifications and commitment to be in business "for yourself," we invite you to submit your c.v. along with an indication of when and where you are available.


The ad was posted on the 23rd of January 2008.

Scroll down the 'Save the SPCK' category for details of all the latest events in the SSG / SPCK bookshop saga including the staff at three shops who were sacked by e-mail this week.

Third Space Books - the new name for SSG?

A new website has appeared: Third Space Books (Update: site removed as of Thursday afternoon 7th February) (Further update: It's back again).


Is this to be the new identity for the SSG shops? Please note the question mark here and in the title to this post. I do not know the answer to the question.

The site lists the former SPCK bookshops along with 'SSG's Manningham Bookshop' and 'SSG's Poole Bookshop'. The 'About page' of Third Space Books continues to describe the chain as the SPCK Bookshops of Saint Stephen the Great LLC'. Both 'Winchester' and 'Worchester' are included.

Oddly the site is selling books through Amazon, rather than through their own SSG Online site (the former SPCK Online). It is Amazon USA, not Amazon UK.

This site raises many questions, the reason for its existence being the main one.

Meanwhile discussion of recent events continues elsewhere - on the Network Norwich site I linked to this morning (Pages 1 and 2), also here on the same site and on a revived thread at Ship of Fools.

The Facebook group and YouTube video page have also seen an update or two.

Once again, if you scroll down the 'Save the SPCK' category you'll find details of all the latest events in the SSG / SPCK bookshop saga including news of the staff at several shops who were sacked by e-mail in the last few days.

Please excuse the 5th post about SSG / SPCK in as many days, but it has been quite an extraordinary week and I feel that is important to make the information available. I haven't forgotten about all of the other topics in the world, I promise.

Further SPCK/SSG shop closures - staff sacked by email

Things have been moving very fast over the past 24 hours. Here is the latest as I understand it.

Yesterday Mark Brewer sent the following to the bookshops and media contacts:

As we move into the second month of 2008, some of the SSG bookshops have experienced the same reduced footfall and sales as most every other bookseller and High Street retailer. In some of our locations for the good of the overall chain, we have taken the decision of cost-cutting.

On Friday, we therefore closed Canterbury and Cambridge and intend to reopen both after re-fitting and re-stocking these shops. We have other locations slated either for reduced operating hours, temporary closure or permanent closure.

Mark Brewer


Today the staff at the SSG (former SPCK) shops in Sheffield, Lincoln and Norwich were sacked by e-mail and the shops are closed. Signs outside say that the shops are closed for a refit or somesuch.

The shops in Bristol and Salisbury have been put on reduced opening hours.

This follows the recent closure of the Cambridge shop and the forthcoming closure of the
Canterbury shop (report).

Canon Dr Joanne Grenfell of Sheffield Cathedral has issued a statement in response to Mark Brewer's press release, posted here yesterday.

The Bookseller has a report: Christian chain closes branches to cut costs.

Update (6th February): More on the Norwich situation here.

"Church of England launches campaign against Orthodox charity"

So claims Mark Brewer, owner of the SSG (former SPCK) chain of bookshops in the title of an email containing the following press release:

SAINT STEPHEN THE GREAT LLC A U.K. CHARITY (1119839)

For Immediate Release
Contact: J Mark Brewer
January 29, 2008 (01) 713-725-4788

DIOCESE OF SHEFFIELD TO ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS:
"NOT WELCOME HERE"

Whilst touting itself as "a place for all people," the Diocese of Sheffield of the Church of England has issued this message to Orthodox Christians: "Stay Away."

The Sheffield Diocese has been engaged in a campaign against Orthodox Christians and those who would "further Orthodox mission." The Diocese hopes to drive SSG out of business because SSG has an Orthodox "aim." In what can only be described as a mockery of Christian charity and ecumenicity, the Sheffield Dean and Chapter wrote SSG's trustees:

"Because of the stated aims of the St Stephen the Great Trust to further Orthodox mission, we feel unable to support the bookshops at the moment by purchasing goods ourselves, or by recommending to our visitors that they visit your shop in Sheffield."

In contrast, Churches Together in England which includes the Church of England is a visible sign of the Churches' commitment as they seek a deepening of their communion with Christ and with one another, and proclaim the Gospel together by common witness and service. Its strength comes from people from different traditions finding new ways to work and worship together."
[http://www.churches-together.net]

The SSG "shop in Sheffield" is the Sheffield Cathedral Bookshop. It which was transferred to SSG, an Orthodox lay charity, in 2006.

According to Mark Brewer, SSG's chairman, Sheffield's hierarchy from the Bishop all the way down have rebuffed numerous attempts at dialogue.

"The Cathedral's letter came out of nowhere and was a complete and utter surprise. It was absolutely devastating to think that our charity's bookshop would be singled out because we are Orthodox Christians."

Nevertheless, 4 months have now passed, and the Diocese' boycott remains firmly in place with its position as intransigent as ever. Consequently, SSG is having to consider its options, including whether it can continue a viable trade in Christian books on the Cathedral close at 8 East Parade.


I've done my best to preserve the formatting - the original document can be downloaded here (pdf, 54kb)

Update (5th February) : Canon Dr Joanne Grenfell of Sheffield Cathedral has issued the following statement:
Sheffield Cathedral has had a fruitful relationship in the past with the adjacent bookshop [1], formerly owned by SPCK, and now under the management of the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust.

There have been reports in the church and national press about the management of the chain of bookshops, which the Dean and Chapter have followed with interest. Indeed, the Chapter has discussed various issues of concern relating to the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust, though, as with all Chapter discussions, these must remain confidential.

We do not feel able to make any further comment on the bookshop or the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust.

The ecumenical relations between Sheffield Cathedral and our Christian brothers and sisters across denominational boundaries are generally excellent, and we hope that this will continue to be so."

ENDS

[1] There is no Cathedral close, and the bookshop is not in premises owned by the
Cathedral.

Canterbury and Cambridge SSG / SPCK shops to close

The latest news as I understand it:

The Cambridge shop is closed, with a note on the door saying it is 'closed for renovation' or somesuch, but insiders tell me it is probably permanent. The staff were spoken to on Friday and 'two were more or less dismissed. The third was offered a change of contract which was not tenable'. (Quote from a reliable source).

The Canterbury shop (picture: above right) is apparently closing on the 28th of February. (Update: I can now verify that this is the case.)

From a comment made on my last post by Pax Vobiscum:

Cambridge and Canterbury are closing at the end of the month, although Cambridge is already closed because, allegedly, of the way the staff have been treated. The usual details are all in the mix - a situation badly handled by a poor management style.

Meanwhile, several shops have been offered a very scary franchise deal. Some have said 'no', some have said 'yes', others are considering it or trying to negotiate better terms.

AND - the whole issue of new contracts is menacing again. But best not to discuss that while the staff are considering their response. All I can say is that a source close to me received a two page letter from USDAW last week regarding the new contracts and the attempts to implement them. It makes for very interesting reading.

I hope to have more later.

If you have first hand information about the situation please do let me know.

Former SPCK shops update

Above: An SPCK sign outside the London St Stephen the Great shop. I don't know of any of the former SPCK shops which aren't still showing an SPCK sign somewhere - does anyone else?

I don't have a huge amount of news for you I'm afraid, but this is a roundup of some links discovered during January:

Sarah at Deep Thought laments empty shelves and comments on plans to pipe in music from a central source.

Parablepsis asks 'whether this neo-crusader mentality is either helpful or healthy'.

Phil Groom of the UK Christian Bookshops Directory documents an exchange of e-mails with Philip Brewer.

Paul Walker (no relation) asks whether Christian bookshops are in terminal decline.

St Cuthbert's Church, Bensham

I wanted to make a correction to my 'Church Commissioners sell church to SSG for £100' post. The sale of the church to the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust (SSGCT) has not yet gone ahead as I said it had. SSGCT have offered to take on the building for 'worship use in accordance with the rites and customs of the Orthodox Christian Church and as a Christian book and gift shop' and they have been asked to develop these proposals. The Church Commissioners will then publish a 'draft Scheme' under the Pastoral Measure 1983 setting out the details of these proposals which the public has four weeks to respond to. If objections are received the Commissioners' Redundant Churches Committee will consider them and decide whether the Scheme should proceed in the light of the issues raised. This page has more information about the process. If a 'draft Scheme' is published I will be sure to let you know.

Apologies for getting it wrong in my previous post. I contacted Jonathan Wallace, editor of the blog I linked to, who told me that the information in his post came from a journalist on the Evening Chronicle, the local paper. (No criticism of Jonathan is intended by the way - he was simply passing on what he'd been told.) The Evening Chronicle had apparently already published the story, but I've been unable to find that online to check out the details. I have discovered an earlier story 'Revamp hope for old church'. Anyway - sorry. I should have taken more time to look into the story.


On an utterly unrelated note I saw that Jonathan's latest post is about local opposition to plans for a big top on a large bit of grass. The 'NE1' organisation is part of 'Hope08' and they have a website about the big top plans here.

Hope 08, if you remember, is the large initiative set up to help Christians have an impact on their communities.

Mark Brewer asks for website changes

Mark Brewer of the St Stephen the Great Trust has written to Phil Groom of the UK Christian Bookshops Directory asking that some information be removed from his website. From the UK Christian Bookshops Directory News page:

Dear Sir,

I write to request that you kindly remove the following from your website which I was most shocked and disappointed to read when perusing it today:

"Unfortunately the shops have suffered under their new management to the point where many staff have felt unable to work under the new regime and have left. Some shops have apparently closed down; of those remaining, opening times, stock availability and levels of customer service are in a state of flux and may not be as expected: prospective customers would therefore be wise to phone ahead before visiting.

Previous shop descriptions have been removed and SSG have been invited to provide up to date details; they have not yet responded: information about the shops shown here may or may not be valid. Updates on the situation will be posted in UKCBD News Section as and when information becomes available."

This information is completely wrong. I totally disagree that the shops have not suffered under Saint Stephen the Great. Whether or not you feel otherwise, the facts are strongly to the contrary: the Truro shop and all the 22 other shops SSG acquired in 2006 have continued to be in operation and their trading is thriving - especially considering negative comments such as on this webpage!

Another fact: had SSG not agreed to take them over on November 1, 2006, Truro and the other 22 shops formerly owned by SPCK would have "suffered" closure by the end of 2006.

I am unaware of being contacted to "provide up to date details." I can assure you that the Truro shop is open and is going to remain open including after December 24 when our manager puts in his last day of service. The hours of operation are not in flux, as he can attest (he is after all the manager).

So, please do remove these two unhelpful and incorrect comments.

Thank you.

J. Mark Brewer
Chairman and CEO
Saint Stephen the Great LLC
(Message dated 17th December 2007)

Also: My recent story about the church sold to SSG for £100 requires some more investigation. It appears that the St Cuthberts Gateshead church situation may not be as it first appeared. More when I know it.

Church Commissioners sell church to SSG for £100

According to this Gateshead Lib Dem blog the Church Commissioners sold a church to the St Stephen The Great Charitable Trust in November for £100:

The landmark St Cuthberts Church on Bensham Bank has been sold by the Church Commissioners to the American based St Stephen The Great Charitable Trust. The historic landmark has been sold for £100, reflecting the state of the building which is suffering from structural problems and vandalism. The building needs considerable investment to bring it back into use.

The nineteenth century church was designed by the famous Victorian North East architect John Dobson.

The Church Commissioners were keen to see the building continue to be used as a church. Work on restoring the building is expected to take a year.

The sale of the church has been welcomed by local Liberal Democrat campaigners Susan Craig and Peter Andras.

Does this sound familiar? An Anglican institution is desperate to hand over their asset(s) to someone. Things don't go smoothly with the first possible recipient, but then SSG are there in the right place at the right time and get given it for free.
The £100 price tag is not really the issue. Such an amount might be entirely appropriate given the hundreds of thousands that will need to be spent on the church. What really surprises me is that the Church Commissioners have decided SSG are suitable recipients at all given:

1. The ongoing legal cases between SPCK and SSG as well as between SSG and some former employees. SPCK gave away millions of pounds-worth of assets to SSG and got their fingers badly burnt and yet the Church Commissioners appear to be doing exactly the same thing. [If you are unfamiliar with the SSG / SPCK bookshops story see all the posts in the Save the SPCK category on this blog.]
2. The dubious aims of the Saint Stephen the Great Trust. SSG have said they are aiming to restore 47 redundant churches, one for each of the 47 battles St Stephen the great fought against the Muslims (statement now removed from their website, though I have the text recorded here). In their video SSG make it fairly clear that they see acquiring churches in Muslim areas as one of their aims. I just can't see how giving a church to such an organisation can fit within the requirements for new uses for redundant churches, namely that they should be 'sensitive to the setting and history of each building'.

It could of course be the case that the Church Commissioners are unaware of the whole SPCK/SSG situation, but this seems unlikely. It is true that this sale took place before the release of the St Stephen the Great video and the Radio 4 Sunday programme, but a lot of information about SSG was available online before that time. Surely you'd do a quick Google search before giving a church building to someone.

Here's some background reading:
• This April 2007 video by the same Lib Dem councillor shows the church before it was sold (Warning - contains local ploughing and footbridge news and also some in-depth photocopying footage)
• Extremist Sect Sets Up Church - No, not SSG. This is a report relating to a previous controversy, when the The Society of St Pius X were due to take on the church.
• BBC NEWS | England | Tyne | Historic church's future secured - A BBC report on St Cuthberts from 2005.
• Listed Church For Sale - The Gateshead Council site listing the church as being for sale again in February this year

The page about St Cuthberts (now deleted) on the Church of England site said:

This is a rare opportunity to acquire a landmark building, in a commanding position overlooking the River Tyne. The property is being sold with the benefit of a development brief produced by Gateshead Council supporting the conversion of this Grade II Listed Church to a range of commercial and residential uses. All parties are keen to see the property sold and sensitively converted to secure the future of this landmark building. Built in 1845 to the designs of John Dobson and extended by the addition of an aisle in 1874, the church stands in a large churchyard that has been used for burials. It comprises tower, nave, chancel, vestries, aisle and west gallery. The building has suffered from subsidence due to former mining works in the area and is in need of substantial stabilisation and other restoration costs. Guidance on these likely costs is available from the agents. Offers are invited by 28 July 2007, with detailed evidence of feasibility within three months of submission of offer.

SPCK/SSG bookshops on the Radio 4 Sunday programme

[Welcome to anyone who has found this blog from the Radio 4 programme. The posts on the SPCK / SSG story can be found in the 'Save the SPCK' category]

You can now listen to the programme again here: Radio 4: Sunday programme. The SPCK item is 25 minutes and 15 seconds in.

In summary, the programme contained the following:

• Introduction to the bookshops and the crisis
• Me talking about my surprise at statements found on the original SSG website
• Sections of text from the SSG video
• Gregory Hallam talking about Orthodoxy and Islam
• Mark Brewer
• Aude Pasquier, speaking form a publishers perspective
• Mike Ford vistits the Chester shop and comments on what is and isn't on display
• Richard Greatrex, former Bristol manager
• Christina, another former manager
• Jane Mcgarry (?) USDAW
• Interview with Phil Brewer

Some of text from the programme transcribed via hefty use of the pause button (see 'Editor's note' below):

Presenter: A little over a year ago a small charity called St Stephen the Great took over the running of Britain's most famous religious bookshop chain, SPCK. The chain was said to be on the verge of financial ruin and the staff were worried about their jobs. At the time of the takeover SPCK's 23 bookshops employed a staff of 200, but since then the staff have left in droves complaining about the style of the new management, as well as changes to their contracts and working conditions. Publishers say new books aren't appearing on the shelves. St Stephen the Great (SSG) now a limited company is run by the Brewer family in Texas who describe themselves as lay Orthodox Christians whose aim is to spread the Orthodox message by acquiring redundant Anglican churches. Mike Ford has this special report.

Mike Ford: Set in the normally genteel world of religious bookselling the saga might well have come straight from the pages of a novel by Barbara Pym. SPCK was traditionally one of the most respected chains in the business. Some of its shops had been trading since the early 1800s stocking a broad selection of theological books and supplying churches with communion wine wafers and candles. But in more recent times the chain had faced desperate financial problems and had difficulty securing a buyer. So when the Brewer brothers from Texas agreed to take over it seemed like manna from heaven.

Dave Walker: I think when SPCK wanted to get rid of the shops they wanted a solution that would involve as few redundancies as possible and I think they saw St Stephen the Great as being the best option in the circumstances.

Mike Ford: Dave Walker is a cartoonist for the Church Times who has been following the story on his blog.

Dave Walker: I was very surprised when I went onto the SSG website that some of the statements that were on the site at the time didn't strike me as being particularly compatable with the more open minded stance of the SPCK shops.

Audio from SSG video: I'm Mark Brewer, chairman of the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust. Who was St Stephen the Great? He was a man who lived in the fifteenth century who fought some 47 battles against the Muslim Turks who were invading Eastern Europe at that time.

Mike Ford: Mark Brewer and his brother Philip describe themselves as lay orthodox Christians. They named their charity after a Saint who built a church after each of his 47 battles against the Muslims. The brothers want to follow in that spirit by acquiring 47 redundant churches from the church of England and turning them over to Orthodox use. Posters in their shops use the slogan 'Buy a book - Save a church'.

Audio from SSG video: The second major project of the Trust is a lovely old Victorian church in the city of Bradford. Known as Saint Mary Magdalene, the abandoned building would most likely have become an Islamic centre as it is only two blocks from what is already the second largest mosque in Europe. Now, thanks to (fades)

Mike Ford: Many Orthodox Christians have been alarmed by this video. Father Gregory Hallam, an Orthodox priest in Manchester thinks it could suggest that the Orthodox church has a confrontational attitude towards Islam.

Father Gregory Hallam: I belong to a church in the Middle East that has lived alongside Islam for over 1400 years, and some of Mr Brewers statements about Islam strike us as being very un-Orthodox in the sense of not being consistent really with our whole approach to interfaith relations. We in the Orthodox church regard all religions as being an indication of God's graciousness to mankind.

Mike Ford: The staff at SPCK became increasingly unhappy about the changes the Brewers were making. They related to the range of stock, the way it was ordered and the working conditions. The new management style didn't go down well either. The staff voted with their feet. More than two thirds of managers have left along with scores of others. In Exeter the entire team walked out. But the chairman of SSG, Mark Brewer, said the new measures had to be taken.

Mark Brewer: We came into the bookshops a year and a month ago facing mounting losses on the trading operations and set about the very difficult and sometimes unpopular task of trying to make the shops profitable enough to at least pay their own way while continuing to spread the word of God through the printed material as well as of course church requisites and some religious articles of one kind and another.

Mike Ford: It was understood from the start that the shops would continue to sell a range of materials, but according to staff in some shops the stock is narrower and they aren't receiving supplies. Aude Pasquier, sales and marketing director for a London publishing house says the changes are posing serious challenges to religious publishers.

Aude Pasquier: Basically I think the range of books is not being carried any longer. Potential customers can't find the range of books that they used to be able to find in the SPCK bookshops. Writers have been coming to us asking why - how come I cannot find my books on the shelves of the SPCK bookshops. For publishers it means that we have lost 23 shops in 23 different locations where we had clearly a good customer base and we have to be able to reach those customers by some other means from now on.

In summary: I felt it gave a good summary of the situation. The nature of such programmes is that each person's contribution is reduced to one or two sentences, but I think a good number of points were made nevertheless. I'd have liked what was said on to have gone further - for example the various Anglican dioceses who have said nothing about the fate of their local SPCK shop escaped without mention - it wasn't for a lack of talking about it on my part. Phil Brewer's responses in the final interview will, I'm sure, be the topic of some debate. As Richard
has said in the comments below he misrepresented the reason that many of the staff left, avoided the Islamophobia issue and his comments about 'broadening the stock' are just not born out by reality.

Thanks to the BBC for running this story and for the producers for ensuring that such a wide variety of voices was heard. If you have comments on the programme then do of course post them below, but you can also comment on the Sunday programme website.

Other comments on the programme:
• Neil: Radio 4 again
• The Need to Maintain Critical Dialogue Between Religions: SPCK / SSG Bookshops | The Wardman Wire
• Madame Arcati: St Stephen's bookshops fight the Muslim heathen!
• Posters on the Ship of Fools bulletin board give their reactions
• Room515 | SPCK: The fight club continues

Other links not directly about the programme:
• A pro-SSG Anglican priest - de cura animarum: St. Stephen's Trust: Restoring Britain's Christian Heritage
[Editor's note (Sunday pm): I need to get on with work, so the transcript of the programme is incomplete. If anyone else wanted to do any more transcribing (from 31 minutes) that really would be marvellous - I know that you can listen to the programme but it would be good to have a written record.]

Update: a comment by Richard Greatrex has been added to the Sunday programme site:
Re: The takeover of the SPCK Bookshops by St Stephen the Great.Many of the points made by Phil Brewer need challenging. Go into your local SPCK/SSG Bookshop and look for any of the new titles published since August by the major Christian publishing houses in the UK - SPCK, DLT, Church House, Kevin Mayhew, etc. I doubt whether you will find more than 5%. The range has radically diminished and not got broader, as Phil Brewer said. In some cases even the range of Orthodox material is less than before the takeover. Phil Brewer states that many of the staff left because they couldn't cope with attempts to modernise business practice. But most of us welcomed this with opened arms, we were willing to work hard to remodel the shops in a more businesslike way. We left because we and our colleagues were treated in most unbusiness-like and unchristian ways.

The SPCK saga on Radio 4

The Sunday programme on Radio 4 is due to feature the story of the former SPCK shops this Sunday, the 16th December 2007. The programme is from 7-8am, so ideal for those limbering up for church.

This is what I was talking about yesterday in a veiled sort of a way. I was asked not to say anything straight away, but since I've been out all day some of you have beaten me to it in the comments. Being a bit dazed and confused I can't remember when I am allowed to talk about it, but I think it might be about now.

I went into London today to the BBC studios to record an interview. My feeling was that it didn't go very well at all. Despite doing lots of revision yesterday I don't think that I'm good at talking on the radio as I panic and just say the first thing that comes into my head. (If I ever say I'm going to apply for the diplomatic corps please attempt to dissuade me on these grounds.) I've probably said all the wrong things in all the wrong ways because I'm not good at thinking on my feet. If it turns out to be really bad I may have to go into hiding and live the rest of my life under a nom de plume. I'll decide on Sunday.

A number of other people who read or comment on this blog are being or have been interviewed, but obviously I have no idea what they'll use or how long the piece will be. The programme will be available to listen to on the internet for, I think, a week after it is broadcast.

I'm glad that at last this story is being given some wider attention. I for one have been really very frustrated, angry even, that so few people with influence have wanted to talk about it. I may or may not have said something about that in my interview.

One upside to all this: it was quite exciting to go to Western House (next to Broadcasting House) where Radio 2 and Radio 6 music do their radio broadcasting. I used the toilets on the Radio 2 corridor. As it turned out I wasn't sitting alongside Terry, but rather in a little cubicle with a set of headphones and a microphone attached by some miraculous means to a studio in Manchester.

Update: Father Gregory, another possible contributor to the programme (I say possible because no-one knows what will be edited in or out) says some things about the Orthodox involvement here.

Former SPCK employees

If there are any former SPCK employees who would be prepared to talk to a media organisation could you send me a quick e-mail with your phone number. If you can do it this afternoon (Thursday) that would be great.

Many thanks.

[Just to add - I'll probably remove this post before too long as it doesn't have any enduring interest. If you have a comment you might be better adding it to one of the previous SPCK posts]

Update (10.30pm): I've had a number of people contact me and have passed details on to the interested party (a major player in the media world - hopefully there will be more to say in the next few days). On this occasion I probably don't need anyone else to get in touch, but if you do it will still help me if there are future requests for people to speak to. Thanks again.

New St Stephen the Great website

St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust, owners of the former SPCK bookshops have a new website.

I was interested to note the following sentence on one of the pages:

In the ensuing 3 years, the Trust has acquired redundant churches in Dorset, West Yorkshire, County Durham, Suffolk, Norfolk and West Sussex. It has succeeded in putting these into use as Orthodox Christian Churches or is in the process of doing so. At least three of these buildings were due to be knocked down while a fourth was to be turned over to a wholly secular use.

So, which are these redundant churches?

• Dorset: St. Osmunds, Parkstone, Poole (early 2005)
• West Yorkshire: Saint Mary Magdalene in Manningham, Bradford (May 2007)
• County Durham: St Cuthberts, Gateshead? (Is this the church in the video? The 1845 date fits and it looks like it. Gateshead isn't in County Durham though.)
• Suffolk ?
• Norfolk ?
• West Sussex ?

I have no idea about the Suffolk church. Any ideas? As for Norfolk and West Sussex - are these last two the SPCK shops in Norwich and Chichester? Does this mean that the Trust has plans to turn all of the former SPCK shops that are in church buildings back into churches?

The new website allows comments and Mark Brewer says 'Please feel free to contact me at your convenience', so perhaps someone would like to ask.

In other related news:
• The comment thread on the SSGCT video is still very active. Users SSGCT and warriort38 are continuing to respond to comments made.
• One poster commenting in support of the video is 'edolhausen'. I wonder if that poster is any relation to Ed Olhausen, Supply Chain Director of St Andrews Christian Bookshops.
• In the Guardian Stephen Bates has mentioned the former SPCK bookshops. The paragraph looks as if it is based on the Bookseller piece I linked to a week or so ago 'More resignations at SPCK'.

From the 2007 SPCK Annual Report: SPCK gave SSG £3.3 million of assets

The SPCK Trustees report and accounts for the year ending 30th April 2007 (pdf document) is now online on the About SPCK page of the SPCK website. It might have been there for a while, but if so I hadn't taken the time to go through it with a fine toothpick.

Here are some extracts that relate to the transfer of the bookshops from SPCK to the St Stephen the Great Trust.

Under 'Notable events of 2006-07, page 6:

On 31 October 2006, all our Bookshops and their staff were transferred to St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust. The Society will retain six freeholds for a period of seven years, when (subject to agreed conditions) they will also be transferred. A further freehold, that of the Bristol shop, was offered for sale and has since been sold, with the shop moving into premises ten doors along the street.

Page 7:

SPCK Bookshops
Last year we noted that the trustees and senior management were considering ways in which SPCK's bookselling mission could be carried forward bearing in mind our financial resources. We noted that "some hard decisions are inevitable". 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

Under Note 7, page 20:

On 30 October 2006, SPCK entered into an agreement with St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust (SSGCT), a registered charity no: 1109008, for the creation of a new Christian Resources Group including the SPCK Bookshops in operation at that date. Under the terms of the agreement and in furtherance of its charitable purposes, SPCK transferred its Bookshops activities to SSGCT on 31 October 2006 including the transfer of certain freehold and leasehold properties, fixtures and fittings and stock. 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. From the date of completion, SSGCT became responsible for the trading activities of all bookshops continuing to trade under the 'SPCK Bookshops' name, which is being used by SSGCT under an annually renewable licence.

The net book value of assets transferred by SPCK to SSGCT on 31 October 2006 is as follows:

2007

£'000
Freehold Properties 1,665
Stock 1,619
Fixtures and Fittings 97
______
Net book value of assets transferred on 31 October 2006 3,381
Impairment of freehold properties (see Note 9.) 2,512
______
Total reduction in net book value relating to the transfer of Bookshops 5,893

If I understand things correctly SPCK transferred a total of £5.893m of assets to SSG, £3.361m from October 2006, and £2.512m in 7 years time if certain (unknown to me) conditions are met. The fact that the SPCK name has not been relicenced might imply that the conditions haven't been met, but that is just speculation. (I've only put the £3.3m in the headline to this post owing to this uncertainty.)

The valuation of the freeholds seems very low to me, given that the Bristol shop was, according to note 20, worth £1.25m alone. From Note 20, page 25:

On 15 May 2007 the Society exchanged contracts for the sale of its freehold premises in Park Street, Bristol. The sale was completed on 13 June 2007 and the net proceeds of sale amounted to £1,250,000

But then I'm no property price expert.

I still don't understand why, as desperate as they were, the board chose to give the shops to SSG, a group who have expressed the following views over the last week:

"The second major project of the trust is a lovely old Victorian church in the city of Bradford. Known as Saint Mary Magdalene, the abandoned building would most likely have become an Islamic centre, as it's only two blocks from what is already the second largest mosque in Europe serving Bradford's population of nearly sixteen percent Muslim. Now, thanks to the diligent work of the Saint Stephen the Great trust the church will be repaired and consecrated into the Orthodox Christian community.

I'm Mark Brewer, Chairman of the Saint Stephen the Great charitable trust. Who was Saint Stephen the great? He was a man who lived in the fifteenth century who fought some forty seven battles against the Muslim Turks who were invading Eastern Europe at that time. During his lifetime, after every battle he commemorated a church, built a new church to the glory of God throughout eastern Romania. He restored churches that had been destroyed by the Ottoman Turks. He is therefore a very fitting patron saint for this trust. We want to aspire to do the very same thing that Saint Stephen did, we want to rescue restore and re-energise the churches of this great country to the glory of God and to the salvation of the people."


It is true that I was very pleased when I heard the news about the transfer on 21st October 2006. But it was only one day later when we looked at the views expressed on the SSG website that we realised that all was not going to be plain sailing.

In the absence of any statement to the contrary one can only assume that the SPCK board members saw these views on the SSG website and still thought that these were the best people to be given the SPCK bookshops.

If giving the shops away was the final remaining option, were no efforts made to give the shops away to their managers or some other group with a local interest?

Again, in the absence of any statement to the contrary one can only assume that the Church of England is happy that the nearest thing to an Anglican chain of bookshops has taken the direction it has taken.

It seems to me that an invaluable asset has been squandered, and no-one really cares that much.

Update: Links to the different Saint Stephen the Great charities on the Charity Commission website are here. The accounts from November04 - March06 are here (pdf document).

Comments on the SSG video etc

The St Stephen the Great video 'Rescuing Britain's Christian Heritage' which I posted last week has had (at the time of writing) 29 comments posted on it. These include some responses from the user 'SSGCT', who posted the video. A sample comment:

You obviously have a great deal of anger and it is good for you to rid yourself of it in any way possible. You are quite incorrect in saying SSG "deceived" anyone - much less the CofE. SSG has never had any dealings whatsoever with the CofE. Nor has it been anything less than transparent about its intentions: to spread God's love through Christian bookselling and saving churches.

See the YouTube video page for the context.

Also (not relating to the video):

• The Bookseller has put up a new article since my last post: More resignations at SPCK
• Blog post from June Austin, a non-fictional writer: Podding Along Nicely: Trouble in paradise?


Update - the latest from the comment thread:

SSGCT:

That's kind of what I figured: you are just re-hashing the old "news" from Dave's blog. Trouble is, the stuff on that blog is grossly inaccurate, exaggerated and completely lacking in factual basis. Citing to that certainly lends no credibility to your assertions about SSG having "deceived" the CofE or anyone else! As for fruits: how about the fact 23 shops are still trading but 14 months ago, they were set to be closed? Why are you intent on ignoring that?