Nationwide Christian Trust have come to the rescue of half of the former Wesley Owen chain. Clem Jackson talks to Ray George, the man behind the rescue to find out more.

From a position of despair for some 26 Wesley Owen shops, we have moved in recent weeks to a rescue (some might say resuscitation) of most of them as Nationwide Christian Trust came sailing in to the rescue.

But who are Nationwide Christian Trust (NCT) and what are their plans for the stores they are in the process of acquiring? I met up with Ray George and began by asking him which stores NCT were taking on.

RG: Following the consultation period, we were informed by the administrators, Baker Tilley, that 26 Wesley Owen shops were to close. At a meeting of the NCT Trustees we decided that we would initially take six of these stores in the London area. Having visiting a number of stores however, we realised that the managers were so passionate about keeping their shops open that we had further dialogue with the Trustees and decided to widen the group.

We now have 20 shops in our portfolio; Aberdeen, Bedford, Belfast, Cheltenham, Chester, Croydon, Edinburgh, Harrogate, Harrow, Inverness, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Southampton, South Woodford, Sutton, Watford, Weston-Super- Mare and Worthing.

CJ: Why did you decide to get involved with the Christian retailing trade in the high street when the industry (and retailing in general) is having such a tough time?

RG: Not all retailing is having a tough time. M&S reported increased business over the past few months as well as Primark, Next, Sainsbury’s; the list could go on. I listened to the report on Starbucks who after going through a cost cutting exercise are now reporting record profits. We are looking to lead with the coffee shop and not the Christian bookshop and we believe that we will add a further 60% to the turnover; this is the difference between profit and loss.

The bookshops we have acquired are too small, so in most cases we are looking to relocate. We have taken temporary leases on the current bookshop sites for either three or six months, but we’re negotiating hard. We are in a buyer’s market looking to open new shops – and that’s going to happen.

The footprint of our shops will probably be three times the size of the average Wesley Owen shop we have. We want the coffee shop to be prominent but we don’t want it to seem as though the coffee shop is all we’ve got. Off from the coffee shop there will be a separate lounge and we’re going to have child-friendly zones too.

CJ: How would you describe the vision/ mission of NCT and how does Christian retailing fit into this?

RG: We want to be on the high street not in the back streets of our towns. Many of the Wesley Owen shops are in locations where the footfall is extremely poor. If we are leading with the coffee shop, the footfall has to be significant. We see church in the high street, not just a coffee shop, which is why it is important for us to have a lounge adjacent to the coffee shop that can be used by Christians who can hold Bible studies, day Alpha. And young people can use the lounge in the evenings with worship groups, etc.

The bookshop will possibly close at 5pm but the coffee shop and lounge will be open until 10 pm. This means there is a longer time when we are likely to be taking income, which should help to spread the cost. Our vision is ‘to provide a Christian presence on our high streets, connecting with Christians and non Christians, fulfilling a mission objective, providing a resource for churches as they seek to impact their local communities’.

CJ: Could you tell me a little about yourself, your background, how you came to be involved with NCT?

RG: I started my business with a £2000 loan from the bank. I had twin boys to feed and knew I had to work jolly hard to pay back the bank debt and also to feed my family. In the early days it was not unknown for me to work until 4 am. I used to clean the office and the loos, design the equipment that we were making, service and sell it. This made me learn very fast, both how to design the products that the market needed, and to sell equipment into world markets. From two people we built a company employing almost five hundred, with eight subsidiaries in different parts of the world. I always wanted to be a world leader, not a world follower. Two years ago I sold the company to my leading competitor.

For the past 16 years we have owned a retreat centre [Mulberry House] in Ongar and I have always wanted to be involved with a ministry of encouragement. We welcome all denominations and people from different walks of life. We want our retreat centre to be a living oasis where people can rest and be refreshed. We started the Nationwide Christian Trust as a spiritual covering for the retreat centre and also for our Bible reflections Living Light, which we circulate throughout the UK and send free copies to hospital chaplains, prison chaplains and Living Light can be found in air and sea port chapels.

CJ: Some concern has been expressed about the fact that the graphics in your brochure Living Oasis don’t seem to show any retailing areas. So what’s the place of Christian retailing in the Living Oasis vision?

RG: As we are all well aware, there have been casualties during this recession and bookshops have been under serious threat through the decline in reading and the threat of the internet. Thankfully you cannot buy a cup of coffee on the internet and coffee shops have been thriving. I believe this will stabilise the financial costs of running the bookshop, as the profitability on food and coffee is much higher than retailing books. We believe we will get more people into our shops, which will result in higher sales for the bookshop.

We are also giving much more autonomy to shop managers and we will be expecting shop managers to send quarterly newsletters out to customers, giving new releases and also seasonal products, cards, etc, that they can buy. We will be offering a next day delivery straight from the bookshop for all telephone enquiries. A full catalogue will be available in every carrier bag so people can also buy either on-line or by phone.

CJ: So you will still be selling Christian resources, books and music etc.?

RG: The product side will be exactly the same as it currently is, although with different emphasis on stock in some cases – it will be better, more suited to the local community. I think some of the stock I’ve seen as I’ve visited the shops is just inappropriate for the area.

CJ: The brochure also includes a good deal of information about ‘partnering’ opportunities and also for offering financial support. Will the amount of (financial) support NCT receive in any area influence the decision to acquire?

RG: WE have already made the commitment to keep 20 shops open in their current locations for a short period of time, while we dialogue with Christian leaders on the best way forward.

The shops are not all in wealthy areas but the mission opportunities are significant and I believe that many will support us with gifts to support the wider mission within our nation. We must not let the flame go out in our towns and cities. We believe that making our shops bright, warm and friendly will be much more welcoming than some of our grey stoned churches which although very beautiful, are sometimes not that welcoming.