BA Christian Booksellers Group

The Booksellers Association's Christian Booksellers Group is the largest of the Booksellers Association's specialist groups. It represents the views and concerns of Christian booksellers to publishers, suppliers and others and holds a watching brief on the trade.

The BA helps foster relationships with publishers, members' suppliers and others and encourages members to look to the future.

Membership of the BA gives you access to all its products and services, including advice, information and trade promotions.

Some 10% of the 4,300 retail outlets in membership of the BA belong to the Christian Booksellers Group, reflecting the importance that Christian booksellers place on their work.

Christian bookselling is of a very specialist nature and differs considerably from the rest of the trade.

As a Christian bookseller you are serving God and financial reward may not be uppermost in your mind.

Your work may be constantly hampered by financial concerns.

Your own suppliers or bookclubs may well be making offers to the public which are detrimental to your trade.

The public may be reticent to enter premises which are too obviously Christian or even reticent to enter bookshops which do not reflect the current trends in high street bookselling.

Your mission as a Christian bookseller, together with the difficult circumstances in which you often operate, means you need the Christian Booksellers Group.

Information on the Group

Each year the Group's Annual General Meeting, to which all members are warmly invited, elects an Executive Committee to oversee the Group's work at some four meetings during the year. The Committee divides its responsibilities as follows and individual members of it would be glad to hear from you.

Group Chairman, Christian Suppliers Group liaison and the press: Mark Clifford (Sarum College Bookshop, Salisbury); Tel: 01722 326899; e-mail Mark Clifford.

Vice Chairman and inter bookshop comparisons/benchmarking: Deborah Reynolds,(Mustard Seed, Marlborough); Tel: 01672 511611; e-mail: Deborah Reynolds

batch.co.uk liaison: Geoff Wallace (Maranatha Christian Bookshop, Uxbridge); Tel: 01895 255748; e-mail: Geoff Wallace

Employment issues and legislation: Steve Mitchell (Wesley Owen Books & Music); Tel: 01228 6211835; e-mail: Steve Mitchell

Environmental issues and social responsibility: Jo Pountney; (eden.co.uk); Tel: 01244 340994; e-mail: Jo Pountney

Gifts & stationery: Joy Dean (Soham Books); Tel: 01353 722259, email: Joy Dean and Melanie Tucker (Church House Bookshop, London); Tel: 020 7799 4064, e-mail: Church House Bookshop

Internet and software: Phil Groom (London School of Theology Books & Resources); Tel:01923 453130; e-mail: Phil Groom

Membership and Christian Booksellers Convention liaison: Guy Marshall (St Andrew's Bookshop, St. Albans); Tel: 01727 834236; e-mail: Guy Marshall

Music and multimedia: David Landricombe (Christian Literature Centre, Plymouth); Tel: 01752 661264; e-mail: David Landricombe.

Training: Richard McChesney (S.T.L Distribution); Tel: 028 9332 9730; e-mail: Richard McChesney

Secretary to the Group: John Parke (Booksellers Association); Tel: 020 7802 0813; e-mail: John Parke.

The Christian Booksellers Convention is the annual conference and trade exhibition for the Christian trade, open to booksellers, book agents, publishers and anyone interested in Christian book, gift and music retail and supply distribution in the UK and from overseas. There are training seminars on the first day hosted and organised by the BA-CBG. The CBC trade awards are presented at the opening Gala Dinner.

The 2008 CBC was held at the Telford Conference and Exhibition Centre from 3rd-5th March. For further information please e-mail: CBC

Membership of the Group, for which there is no additional subscription, is dependent on membership of the Booksellers Association.