Waterstones is set to expand its high street presence with plans to open at least 12 new bookshops across the UK in 2025, following what the company describes as a successful festive trading period.

James Daunt, managing director of Waterstones and US bookseller Barnes & Noble, revealed the expansion plans after the bookstore chain experienced particularly strong sales in the final weekend before Christmas 2024.

"If you are in the 'last minute' game — and we are to an extent — then it was a solid Christmas that came late because of the fall of the calendar," Daunt told The Financial Times. "The last weekend and December 23-24 were exceptional on both sides of the Atlantic. It has been a good post-Christmas as well."

The ambitious expansion plans come despite challenges facing the retail sector, including rising costs following October's Budget. While Daunt acknowledged that pay inflation was "really significant" for the business, he identified Brexit as the most pressing concern for the company's UK operations.

"It remains the biggest pain, adds to the cost and complexity, and made our labour situation worse," he explained.

The planned openings for 2025 follow a successful year of expansion in 2024, during which Waterstones opened 12 new stores in the UK. The company's US counterpart, Barnes & Noble, is pursuing an even more aggressive growth strategy, with approximately 60 new stores planned for 2025, building on the 57 stores opened in 2024.

The expansion plans come amid speculation about a potential future stock market listing. Daunt suggested that an initial public offering of the consolidated businesses would be "logical" in the future, although any such decision would depend on the strategy of Elliott, the private equity group that owns both chains.

Both businesses are currently working to integrate their IT and finance systems onto a single platform, marking another step in the closer alignment of the two major bookselling chains.

Waterstones was recently revealed as one of hundreds of companies to be affected by a major ransomware attack on supply chain software provider Blue Yonder in late 2024. The company confirmed last month to The Bookseller that it had been "indirectly affected by connectivity issues for [its] warehouse systems", but said that its shops had not been impacted by any availability issues.

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