Send the Light
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Founded | 1957 |
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Founder | Carlisle, UK |
Area served | UK and elsewhere |
Method | Advancing the Christian Faith through the creation, distribution and retailing of Christian resources |
Key people | Michael Fitch (Chairman) Keith Danby (CEO) David Ryan (Secretary) |
Revenue | £35.8m (2009) |
Employees | 390 (2009) |
Send the Light (STL) was a British Christian book distributor which had absorbed other Christian publishers and bookshops, and eventually merged with the
Early history
The name “Send the Light” first appeared in 1957 as a Christian literature evangelism ministry sending copies of the Gospel of John from Chicago to Mexico, under the direction of George Verwer, then a student at Moody Bible Institute. Verwer later moved to Bolton in the UK, where he established Operation Mobilisation (OM), which today distributes Christian literature in many countries around the world. Verwer decided to keep the name “Send the Light” for one particular aspect of OM, exporting Christian books to India. As STL, this developed into a general distributor of Christian books, and relocated to Bromley in Kent.
Rise to Prominence
In January 1986, Keith Danby was made chief executive of STL. Danby had a background in finance and by introducing stock catalogues, a free telephone number and next-day deliveries he increased turnover by 52% in one year. In 1988 he set up an independent board for STL which separated it from the governance of OM, and the following year the company relocated to Carlisle. In the 1990s STL began to expand its interests.
In 1992 an old Christian publisher,
In 1993 OM released STL to operate as a separate organisation to allow it to concentrate on the publishing and distribution of Christian literature.[1].
In 2001 STL acquired Word UK, which produced books, music and videos. STL became the largest Christian organisation dealing with books in the UK. STL remained a charity, and in 2001 was listed as the 74th largest one in the UK. STL was also the main gateway for several of the biggest American Christian publishers, including
Entering the American Market
In 2003 STL furthered its push into the US market by acquiring OM_Literature. It also purchased the distributor FaithWorks, and in 2005 it bought its largest acquisition, Appalachian Distributors Inc. The CEO of STL USA is David Passman.
Merger with the International Bible Society
In January 2007, Send the Light merged with the
Financial difficulties, administration
The last set of financial statements by IBS-STL UK for the year ended 28 February 2009,
On 16 November 2009 IBS-STL UK announced that due to "a succession of financial problems, in particular the failed implementation of a new
STL Distribution
In December 2009 John Ritchie Ltd of Kilmarnock, Scotland, finalised a deal with the Administrators to become the owners of the Christian book distribution and wholesaler business, STL Distribution Ltd. John Ritchie Ltd stated their intention to retain Carlisle as the major base of operation for this business. Keith Danby was replaced by Ken Munro as CEO.[3]
Wesley Owen
At the time the business collapsed, IBS STL (UK) were operating a chain of 41 retail units (bookshops) under the 'Wesley Owen' brand name, situated in various towns and cities throughout the UK. In the months following, a majority of these shops were taken over by other Christian-based companies or charitable trusts leaving only a small number unable to continue trading after no buyers were found.
- Koorong Books of Sydney, Australia, bought the Wesley Owen brand and domain names and took over 8 bookshops at Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Bromley, Coleraine, Derby, Glasgow and York.
- CLC International of Alresford, Hampshire, took over 6 shops at Bolton, Cambridge, Coventry, Guildford, Kingston upon Thames and Stockport.
- Nationwide Christian Trust of Essex took over 19 shops and rebranded them under the trading name Living Oasis. These were at Aberdeen, Bedford, Belfast, Cheltenham, Chester, Edinburgh, Harrogate, Harrow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, South Woodford, Sutton, Watford, Weston-super-Mare and Worthing.
- The three bookshops at Falkirk, Walsall and Woking were taken over by independent traders.
- No buyers were found for the shops at Brighton, Carlisle, Dundee and Macclesfield.
Authentic Book Publishing
Koorong, in addition to purchasing the Wesley Owen brand (see above), also purchased all of the Authentic and Paternoster intellectual property and author contracts and with plans to continue the book publishing business from the existing Authentic base in the Milton Keynes area.
Authentic Music
Liquidation
On 1 December 2010, the company was moved from administration and into
Bibliography
- Stuart Arnold, Value, Power and the Future: A Study of the UK Christian Book Trade, MBA Thesis: University of Bath, 1996.download
- Richard Bartholomew, “Religious Mission and Business Reality: Trends in the Contemporary British Christian Book Industry”, in The Journal of Contemporary Religion, 20 (1), 2005, 41-54.
- Jana Riess, In Surprise Move, STL Buys Appalachian Distributors in Publishers Weekly, 13 July 2005.
- “STL – Christian Compassion and the Pursuit of Excellence”, in The Bookseller, 22 October 1993, 14-15.
- Kenneth Taylor, My Life: A Guided Tour: The Autobiography of Kenneth N. Taylor, Wheaton: Tyndale, 1991.
See also
Notes
- ^ IBS-STL UK, Financial Statements for the year ended 28 February 2009
- ^ STL Distribution Blog, http://stldistribution.blogspot.com/2009/11/ibs-stl-uk-trade-communication.html?showComment=1258403900001
- ^ "STL Distribution".
- ^ Cash, Russell and Bailey, Donald IBS-STL (UK) In Administration 29 November 2010, Joint Administrators signed 10/12/10