'I feel like we're bringing people together'

Vicki Shenkin Kerr feels like she's "bringing people together" after opening an independent book shop in east London last year.

Bard Books, on Roman Road in Bow, is one of at least six independent bookshops that opened in the capital in the past 12 months.

Despite a slight downward trend in bookshop launches, Ms Shenkin Kerr said she did not let herself be guided by the statistics.

And now, she said, "I cannot leave my house without bumping into someone I know."

"Having never done this before, I don't know what I'm comparing against," Ms Shenkin Kerr, 42, added.

"There's been amazing feedback since we opened six months ago."

Figures from the Booksellers Association revealed a slight drop in the number of independent stores across the UK and Ireland in 2024.

However, bookshops outperformed the wider retail sector in terms of closures.

According to the Centre of Retail Research, 13,479 shops shut in 2024 - the equivalent of 37 each day.

The Booksellers Association, which represents 95% of bookshops, said although shop numbers fell from 1,063 to 1,052 in 2024, numbers remain above a low of 867 in 2016.

It recorded seven independent bookshop closures in London in 2024, but 10 shops joined its membership.

Not all shops that joined its membership opened that year, but at least six did, the Booksellers Association said.

In 2023, five shops joined and four closed in the capital.

Meryl Halls, managing director of the Booksellers Association, says bookshops are "bucking the trend of high street decline".

"Bookshops provide local jobs, enrich local communities and fuel local economies; they bring social cohesion and cultural capital to their towns and villages; they bring authors to schools, readers to high streets, donations to charities and support to literacy programmes."

Ms Shenkin Kerr's shop is also a cafe and wine bar, and hosts a range of events, from stand up comedy to a singles book club.

It's a provision that is on the rise, with 92% of independent bookshops running activities and events for their local communities, according to a Booksellers Association report.

"People are coming in and hanging out," Ms Skenkin Kerr said.

"There is something very safe about a book shop. It brings such a broad and diverse range of people.

"We're a third space in the community. I cannot leave my house without bumping into someone I know."

"Third spaces" - neither work or home - are neighbourhood places for social connection.

With a 20-year background in hospitality, Ms Skenkin Kerr hopes to build on the number of events at Bard Books to build a stronger connection to the area.

She said: "I feel like we're bringing people together.

"It's a beautiful part of what's missing from communities."

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