Jane James was a freelance bookkeeper until the pandemic hit and most of her business disappeared. Rather than waiting for it to trickle back, she decided to embark on a dream she’d held for more than a decade and open her own independent bookshop in Thetford, Norfolk. She’s not the only one. Last year might have seemed like a strange time to launch a new business, but according to figures from the Booksellers Association, more than 50 new bookshops were opened in 2020, taking the body’s independent bookshop membership to 967 shops in the UK and Ireland. This is up from 890 shops in 2019, 883 in 2018 and 868 in 2017. The latter figure marked the end of a decline that started in 1995, when 1,894 indie bookshops were recorded. “It is extraordinary. Can you imagine, if you’ve been planning to open a bookshop for a year and then you open it into this pandemic?” said BA managing director Meryl Halls. “I’m wondering if the opening of bookshops by new entrants will be quite a thing in 2021, because there are so many people who are taking stock of their lives in the pandemic. Running a bookshop has always been an attractive proposition for a certain kind of person, so I do think that people who are looking to change their life might try to make it work.” However, there is a more complicated picture behind that figure. While 50 new bookshops opened in the UK and Ireland in 2020, 44 closed their doors – around 5% of the 890 shops recorded in 2019. The rest of the net increase is due to an influx of existing shops joining the BA for the first time, probably in order to get support during the pandemic. But 967 is the highest number of independent bookshops recorded since 2013. “It has been an incredibly difficult year for booksellers, and the high street as a whole, so it is fantastic to see the number of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland increase for a fourth consecutive year,” said Halls. For James, who opened Thetford’s Not Just Books in October, it’s been a “rapid learning curve”. Her first month saw sales that exceeded her expectations, as locals rushed to embrace the shop. November was a “mixed bag”, as non-essential retailers closed their doors, and then she “threw everything” at the shop in the run-up to Christmas. She has now closed again and is isolating with her family after her husband tested positive for Covid. “We are pressing pause at the moment, which is a shame,” she said. Julie Richardson signed the lease for her shop, Ginger and Pickles children’s bookshop in Edinburgh, as the UK headed into its first lockdown. She had wanted to open a bookshop for about 30 years, and when the shop under her flat came up for rent, she couldn’t resist. She refitted it herself, using furniture from her flat,and opened at the end of the summer. “There were many times I had thought this was a bad idea given the current situation,” she said. But customers have loved it: “I am fortunate to live and work in a neighbourhood where the residents really like to shop locally. I have also had so many people tell me that they are so happy to find a bookshop solely dedicated to children and teens. I love books and I think it is so important for young people to read.” Bear Bookshop, another children’s bookshop, was opened by English teacher Jenny McCann in Bearwood, West Midlands, just as the November lockdown ended. “I’ve always dreamed of having my own bookshop. I was on maternity leave and during a night feed saw someone had tweeted that their own bookshop was about to open. I had a moment of absolute clarity that this was what I wanted to do,” McCann said. “When we did finally open, I was overwhelmed by how many people walked in and said, ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’” Pandemic restrictions mean she’s been able to trade for only one month. “I had so many events planned that we can’t do now, which has been disappointing and frustrating,” she said. But sales in December were strong and McCann remains positive. “There was a moment early in the pandemic where I wondered if this was a terrible idea, but I think we need these things more than ever now,” she said. “Leaving an established career to open your own business is always an act of optimism. I’ve always been a very optimistic person. Last year was definitely a test, but I remain hopeful.” At the BA, Halls believes that the shuttering of high streets around the country brought home to many consumers the importance of their local high street. “We’ve campaigned for years about the high street being in jeopardy, and you could not have designed an experiment to illustrate the point better than Covid did,” she said. While many booksellers adapted to the pandemic by establishing websites, offering click-and-collect services and sending staff out to hand deliver books, many shops, including chains Waterstones and Blackwell’s, have had to stop even click-and-collect due to the third lockdown. Halls predicted 2021 would be challenging. “We’ve not seen mass closures yet because shops have all been fighting for survival. Mainly, they’ve survived. I would like to think that our numbers might hold steady for 2021. But I’m anticipating that we’re going to lose a slew of businesses that are, maybe for other reasons, feeling unviable,” said Halls. “However, 2020 proved the resilience, resourcefulness and dedication of booksellers. We will do everything we can to support them as they look ahead and plan for a post-pandemic future.” This article was amended on 8 January 2021, to correct the number of independent bookshops that closed in 2020.