houSE of bookS & friEndS thriving in MAnChEStEr City CEntrE

A new purpose-led independent bookshop, cafe and events space opened its doors on Monday 19th December 2022 in Manchester City Centre. Based in the Manchester Club building on King Street, House of Books & Friends aims to combat loneliness by providing a space for local people to establish connections. The Community Interest Company reinvests all profits back into running the bookshop and projects which directly address social isolation and loneliness. It is the brainchild of Darryl Cooke, founder of Manchester-headquartered international law firm gunnercooke.

House of Books & Friends is a generalist bookshop which sells all new books and has a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books suitable for adults and children. Since opening in December, they have hosted a variety of events in their beautiful space, including a monthly book club, social evenings, and author events. Most recently, they hosted Andy Spinoza, author of Manchester Unspun. They are hoping to build up their calendar over the course of the year and interest in the space has exceeded expectations, according to staff.

Naomi Self, Bookshop Manager at House of Books & Friends, said: “We’re excited to be establishing connections between members of the community and making a difference through the power of reading.

“Our employees are extremely knowledgeable, provide excellent customer service with a smile and are approachable people who have mental health first aid training.

“We’re looking to establish a real community hub and welcome approaches from groups who would like to host regular meetings or events which align with our values.”

Darryl Cooke, Co-Founder of gunnercooke added: “It’s well documented that loneliness is a pernicious issue in society.

“One hundred per cent of our profits go back into the organisation, so every purchase someone makes and every amazing event they attend means we can make a difference to those experiencing loneliness.

“We’re very much in a contract with the local community where we only exist because of them. It means there’s a real focus on quality, community service and being as supportive as possible if people are having a difficult time.”

House of Books & Friends partners with charities regularly in their Give a Book scheme, in which customers buy a book based on a prompt from a bookseller, and the store donates this book to the charity they are partnered with. Recently, they have partnered with charities Home Start and Out There. They also have a Pay It Forward scheme in their café which means people can pay £3 and someone in need can have a coffee.

For more information on House of Books & Friends, including their mission, upcoming events, and other ways to get involved, please visit https://houseofbooksandfriends.com/.