Congratulations to Suddenly On Sheaf Street in Daventry!

Suddenly On Sheaf Street, a bookshop for curious and crafty people in Daventry, Northamptonshire, has been announced as the winner of the National Book Tokens Newcomer of the Year 2024. The award is given to new bookshops based on their first full year of National Book Tokens sales and redemptions, both of which are a measure of how well they are engaging with local booklovers.

Suddenly On Sheaf Street is based in a beautiful 16th century building, where they have two floors of books, stationery and yarn, and a big space for holding workshops and events upstairs. Some of the events they’ve hosted so far include craft workshops, a Sherlock Holmes performance night and their very own Jolabokaflod.

With the Booksellers Association (BA) reporting a growing number of independent bookshop openings last year, in the face of an increasing high street challenges, competition for the prize is strong – with 51 new bookshops opening in 2023 and vying for the coveted award.

“The local response in Daventry and beyond to the opening of Suddenly On Sheaf Street, and the way the team at the shop have responded to meet the evident demand, is the perfect demonstration of the necessity of bookshops on our high streets: not only for the vital business of bookselling and the joys of reading for pleasure, but also as hubs for community, creativity and innovation.”

- Lisa Bywater, Head of Marketing at National Book Tokens

Shop manager Joanna and the team at Suddenly On Sheaf Street have won a trophy as well as a luxury wine hamper to share – congratulations!

"Since opening in August, we have been absolutely blown away by the amazing reception we’ve had locally. The response to a new bookshop has been like an oasis in the desert. We have loved meeting such a wide variety of people and helping to pair them with their perfect new read.

We had a truly phenomenal first Christmas period, with lots of shoppers from the town centre and the surrounding villages coming in to select gifts for their loved ones and tell us about their favourite recent reads. December was absolutely non-stop for us, and it feels like everyone in Daventry must have received a book – or a book token - for Christmas!

It’s been a seriously steep learning curve getting to grips with all things bookselling and we couldn’t have done it without the support and guidance from the wider bookselling community. All the hard work getting the shop set up feels like it’s really starting to pay off, and we are truly honoured to receive this recognition from National Book Tokens."

- Joanna Clements, Manager of Suddenly On Sheaf Street

The Book Stop in St Helen's, Merseyside, was the winner of the National Book Tokens Newcomer of the Year 2023. 

"Our community bookshop situated in St Helens was the brainchild of our late Chairman and founder, Brian Leyland. With the closure of Wardleworths in 2019 after 40 years in the town, we were left in a dire predicament: No bookshop in the town! St Helens has one of the lowest literacy rates in the country and therefore the need to introduce reading for pleasure, especially in children, was great.

'The Book Stop's Here' is a community benefit society, owned by the community, for the community. The support since we have opened has been unreal. We've hosted T.M Logan, Robin Ince (twice), Lewis Hancox and a plethora of local authors and we run myriad events both in house and collaboratively with stakeholders in the town to help drive customers into the shop.

We have been commended with social business awards and to receive this from National Book Tokens is simply wonderful recognition, thank you. 2023 is set to be an exciting year, as we look to renovate our upstairs to become a new event space, allowing a true community hub to be born from the bookshop."

– Nik, shop manager at The Book Stop

Previous winners of the award include The Ivybridge Bookshop in Devon, The Portobello Bookshop in Edinburgh, Darling Reads in West Yorkshire and Maldon Books in Essex.