Writing on the wall for traditional newsagent?

Tuesday 11 September 2018

Tozers on the Bridge will close at the end of September if a buyer is not found for the business, ending almost a century of retail trading in its prime location.

Whilst the popular shop on the Bridge continues to thrive the lease has come up for sale due to the combination of two sad facts, the passing of one of the directors and the imminent retirement of the other.

Tozers newsagent and tobacconist has been in existence for 93 years and both its current proprietors and many customers are hoping a buyer may be found at the last minute to avoid its closure.

Express has had it confirmed that the premises will shut on 30 September 2018 unless someone is interested in taking on the business lease, otherwise it will be the end for this traditional shop.

Tozers is part of the wider newspaper and magazine distribution business, H Le Gallez, which is currently in the process of being sold. H Le Gallez wholesale distribution business in the Rohais is being bought by Guernsey Press Limited, but the sale does not include the retail shop on the Bridge. 

Pictured: H Le Gailez wholesale business on the Rohais.

Its sale description said, "the Island's newspaper and magazine importer and distributer in Guernsey is being offered for sale as a going concern. This unique business will offer someone an opportunity to own a long established local company, which has not changed hands in several decades."

The Channel Island Competition Regulatory Authority recently published a notice of application for approval of acquisition document and invited comments in relation to the sale of Le Gallez to Guernsey Press Limited. The notice was published on 23 August 2018 and CICRA welcomed comments until 7 September 2018.

A spokesperson for CICRA said: "The Board will now consider the transaction including any comments received before deciding whether or not to grant approval. The administrative deadline for this is 25 days from the date of notification, however generally it is quicker than this."

If this acquisition goes through it will mean that the Guernsey Press Group Limited will have market monopoly in relation to the distribution of printed publications at a wholesale level. 

While the sale of the distribution business looks set to go through later this month the future of Tozers still very much hangs in the balance with just days left for any interested parties to take on the business.

Anyone interested in looking into this venture can get further details here.

Pictured top: Tozers on the Bridge