In 2010 this very website was created with only one aim in mind: continuing to help and support the local independent bookshop. In a world which constantly sees the threat of this beautiful species being wiped out by anything to do with the internet, it was time to get serious – if we were going to see our beloved independents stay on the high streets, we had to act. And act fast.

We asked ourselves, how can we increase footfall into the independents? How can we make sure they still get custom? And how can we link this all in with the behemoth that is the power of the internet, the very threat of the livelihood of our bookshops? How can we let them know that we love them? There must be something else… and so then, Hive was born.

The principle: support your local independent bookshop. The stigma: you like ordering online because you can do it from home in the warm with your cat. The idea: what if there was a website where you could actually do both? The answer: hive.co.uk – where online shopping for books, DVDs, Blu-ray and stationery is twinned with still visiting your favourite local bookshop. You order online with us, you select to pick your orders up from your local independent bookstore and you may see what other delights they have in the shop for you that you never even knew. Events, signings, reading groups, promotions… the list is endless. We feel you should not miss out on any of these things just because you choose to shop from behind a computer screen. On the occasion that you may not be able to collect from your local independent, we do offer a delivery service to your home for a small charge.

Another positive reason you should choose to shop at Hive aside, from being able to collect in store, is that every time you buy with us a percentage of the sale goes direct to the bookseller who you’ve chosen as your favourite bookshop (or if you haven’t chosen, we will automatically reward the Hive Network retailer geographically closest to your billing postcode), thus rewarding the bookshop just for being great, and saying thank you for being a part of Hive. A bookshop is rewarded even when you buy books, DVDs, stationery, music, eBooks and Google eBooks™

But you don’t know where your local independent is? No worries. Just click on this link, type in your town or postcode and we’ll show you. Independents are well-renowned for their diversity, uniqueness, personal attention to detail and well-read staff who can read you like a book and know the very one which you will want to read next. Don’t let this service and manner to which booklovers have been accustomed to fade into oblivion; support your love for your local independent bookshop by ordering online with us.