A US-BASED online bookseller which gives a proportion of its turnover to literacy charities has launched its first overseas subsidiary in Scotland.
Better World Books (BWB), which was set up in 2001 by a trio of IT graduates in Indiana, has opened a warehouse in Dunfermline and claims it is aiming to become a serious rival to Amazon on both sides of the Atlantic.
The $17 million-a-year turnov
er company, like Amazon, sells secondhand books online – but donates up to 50 per cent of the sale price to its literacy charity partners.
A further percentage of the sale price is given to the book's donor – and the rest is kept by BWB.
Edinburgh-based UK development manager Hannah Smith landed the job with BWB after a stint working as manager of the Oxfam bookshop in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.
"When I was manager of a charity bookshop, I realised how many books get thrown away if they are unsold," she said. "I knew I wanted my next job to be something which dealt with that. I started looking into how I could even start doing something to address the problem and came across Better World Books on the internet."
After e-mailing the company to ask for advice on setting up a similar UK enterprise, Smith got a rapid response from BWB co-founder Xavier Helgesen.
"They were really keen on the idea of launching in the UK," said Smith. "I happened to be going to New Zealand on holiday, so I organised a stopover in San Francisco so I could meet them. We really hit it off and they offered me the job."
Now, less than a year later, Smith is heading up the UK operation from a small office in Edinburgh and the Dunfermline warehouse, joined by one permanent member of BWB's US staff – seconded to Edinburgh from Indiana – and five UK staff.
The firm expects staff numbers to grow to around 70 within four years and has been offered a £220,000 Regional Selective Assistance grant by the Scottish Government after applying with the help of accountancy firm French Duncan. Smith said: "We want to become a really strong online presence in the UK and be a serious rival to Amazon."
Smith has set up partnerships with two UK charities – the National Literacy Trust and READ International – which will both benefit from BWB's sales.
READ, which sends books to schools in Africa and relies on book collecting by student groups, is not only benefiting from BWB's sale money, but is holding book drives on university campuses to help stock the firm's warehouse.
Enterprise minister Jim Mather said: "The creation of new jobs at Better World Books is excellent news for the company and the local economy, particularly at a time when new investment and job creation is extremely important. I welcome the company's plans and wish it every success in future."
While BWB will not give out prediction figures for its first year of trading as a UK registered company, its US parent firm, which boasts around 2 million unique customers and sells 6,000 books a day, expects turnover to rise 40 per cent to $24m in 2008.
The full article contains 538 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
