Bookseller and Statesman

What with the IPG conference a couple of weeks ago and the forthcoming London Book Fair it has been a busy time and this blog has consequently suffered. Still the IPG conference did feature their Meet the Retailer session at which the great and the good from the UK book retail sector gave their views on publishing, bookselling, the market, ebooks and more.


Whilst these fine individuals are all leaders in their chosen industry it does appear from this Blue Plaque, which I pass frequently on my commute, that the Bookselling industry used to be lead by real Statesmen.

It seems that as well as expanding the WHSmith retail chain from the modest position the founding H.W. Smith left it in, W.H. Smith rose to great heights in politics. He didn’t quite reach the pinnacle in politics and is distinguished by being the last person to hold the title of First Lord of the Treasury without being or becoming Prime Minister – still I imagine he had other things on his mind:


– supply issues (probably not – he owned the distributor)
– Net book Agreement (not yet in place)
– returns (again no it was all firm sale then)
– innovations (at the time paperbacks were at about the same stage ebooks are today)

Simple times then which explains how he had time to become a statesman as well as a very successful bookseller.

BTW if you want to see the Blue Plaque in situ there is the new wonder of Google’s StreeetView to help.