The UK's largest bookseller, running around 300 bookshops with local booksellers choosing much of what is on the shelves.
Waterstones is a bookseller with shops in towns and cities across the UK, plus Ireland and Europe, and a website. Its shops stock a wide range of books and also sell gifts, stationery and games, and many have cafes. It runs the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Waterstones Book of the Year, plus events and a literary festival. Its Cafe Ws serve sustainably sourced coffee, and its Games Flagships sell board games and collectables. Waterstones Plus members earn rewards as they spend in shops and online.
Tim Waterstone founded it in 1982 with a 6,000 pound redundancy payout, opening the first shop on Old Brompton Road in Kensington. It has had several owners since, and bought Ottakar's shops in 2006. James Daunt became managing director in 2011 and remains chief executive. Foyles joined in 2018 and Blackwell's in 2022, and it also owns Hatchards and Hodges Figgis in Dublin. Its shop count was 316 as at 2025. The company has changed hands several times, from WHSmith in 1993 to a consortium including EMI and Advent in 1998 under HMV, then to A and NN Capital in 2011, and in 2018 to Elliott Management, with Daunt staying on as chief executive. Wikipedia says the estate shrank to 288 shops by the end of 2012, before growing again.
The company's stated aim is to bring books back into the cultural conversation, combining a broad range, author events, distinctive shops and knowledgeable booksellers. A strategy change in 2012 gave shops more say over what they stock, so each shop can reflect its own town, which is why many look and feel different from each other.
The registered office and head office are at 203 to 206 Piccadilly, London, above the flagship shop, which it moved into in 2012. Shops can be found from the Bradford Wool Exchange to small high streets, and the company describes its booksellers as gifted people whose enthusiasm and knowledge are central. Waterstones Plus is its rewards scheme, used by millions of members according to the company. The 2012 changes moved more decisions from head office to shops, and some shops have even opened under other names, such as Southwold Books. That local flexibility is one of the main features of how the company describes itself.
Roles include booksellers in shops, shop managers, cafe staff, events and marketing, buying and publishing relationships, online and digital, and distribution. Wikipedia reports about 3,600 employees in 2024. It suits people who love reading and want to talk about books for a living.
Website: www.waterstones.com
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