Quillwater Books had been on the same corner for twenty years. Then the online giants arrived, and the shop’s regulars started getting older.

The shop’s secret weapon was its staff, who could pick a book for anyone. So we put them front and centre. A refreshed brand gave the shop a warmer, more confident look, and a weekly social series, “Shelf Life”, had a different bookseller recommend one book in under a minute.

We added a simple ask-a-bookseller form to the website and set up a monthly book club with the café next door.

A year on, the shop’s social following has tripled, the book club has a waiting list, and younger readers now make up a third of sales.