Reason behind shock closure of Merseyside's oldest bookshop

The owner of CK Broadhurst, the oldest bookstore in the north west, has revealed the reason behind the shop's shock closure last week after people speculated online as to why the doors were forced to shut. The shop traded from the same building on Market Street since 1920 after being founded by its namesake Charles Broadhurst after he returned from active duty in World War One.

Charles was given a loan to start the bookshop by his wife's mother and the doors have remained open ever since. In 1987 Charles died and ownership of the building and its contents were bought by Laurence Hardman who had started working in the shop sweeping its floors in 1969.

Laurie Hardman bought the store after Charles passed away in 1987. He owned Broadhurst until his death from cancer earlier this year. Laurie previously spoke to the ECHO with pride about the bookshop's unique character. Speaking to the ECHO, Laurie's stepson, Harvey Brown, who took over the shop following his death, explained the closure has come due to a lack of electrical safety in the building.

Harvey, who is also an alpaca farmer in Colne, Lancashire, claims the shop had been losing money since he took it on earlier this year, and explained he found it difficult to take the shop over from Laurie who had spent most of his life running the shop.

He said: "It's harder and harder for shops like that to make money. It was more of a passion for my step-father than mine, he'd worked there since he was 19, but since covid the shop has really struggled and it was hard to take over the shop from him as he just had so much knowledge.

"When we took over the building we couldn't find the certification of safety so we got an electrician to come in and basically condemned the building. He found wiring from the 1930s so there's no way we can trade and we can't get any electrical certification."

Harvey has explained the decision to keep the doors of the shop shut was a tough one for him and his family, with him claiming it will be a big loss for Southport as well as for himself. Despite the closure, he still hopes someone might be able to take the shop on and keep it going as he anticipates a boom coming for independent books shops.

He continued: "People have been saying all sorts online, saying how terrible we are, but no one understands the pain of not being able to open the doors of the shop. It was never going to end well if we carried on trading. It's terrible having to pull the plug on the business.

"Shops like that are so important to Southport, the number of people who would travel to the town just for the shop. We would like it to still be there, we really think the worst years are behind us for independent booksellers but we just don't have the funds to sort get the electrical certificates, pay the staff during the closure and stay open afterwards."

Harvey added: "In an ideal world someone would come along with a lot of money who would buy it and keep it going."

He announced the shock closure on X last week, with the business's social media page saying: "We are incredibly sad to announce the permanent closure of Broadhursts. All the booksellers have been made redundant, & the shop will no longer open for trading with immediate effect. To claim refunds on deposits and Broadhursts vouchers please email litereria@aol.com."

In a second post, the business said: "Thanks to everyone for your kind comments about what the shop has meant to you. Us booksellers are devastated by the situation. We can't go into the details of the closure at the moment, but sadly it isn't something we can crowdfund our way out of."