Bankrupt Christian bookseller ready to sell shops

Finance | Gareth Jones | 27 Nov 2009

The interim manager in charge of the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust (SSG) has announced he is ready to start listening to offers for the insolvent charity's assets.

The chain of Christian bookshops filed for bankruptcy in April last year, and as a result the Charity Commission placed Peter Gotham (pictured) of insolvency and restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor in control.

Taking possession of the 10 shops had been hampered by the fact that they were being managed by companies appointed by the charity’s trustees.

“We are pleased to have completed the possession of 10 of the Charity’s shops and we have now instructed agents to put various of the Trust's properties on sale”, said Gotham.

“We would therefore invite creditors with claims incurred before 1 July 2007 to come forward in order to ensure that no valid claims go unmet.”

The loss-making chain had been acquired by SSG in October 2006 from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK).

The news comes just weeks after Christian book and bible charity IBS-STL UK revealed it is looking to sell off its operations and wind up.

Who's Who: Peter Gotham

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