Oxford University Press has decided its bookshop in the High Street will not reopen.

Instead, its academic books will be stocked at Blackwell's in Broad Street.

OUP is based in Walton Street and is renowned for publishing the Oxford English Dictionary both in print and online.

A statement on OUP's website says: "OUP has decided not to reopen the Bookshop, which has been closed since the first UK lockdown in March 2020.

"Instead, OUP books in Oxford will move to a new home in Blackwell’s Bookshop on Broad Street.

Read again: Blackwell's is up for sale

"A dedicated display space for OUP's books, showcasing a range of our publishing activities, will be located in Blackwell's Norrington Room."

The decision not to reopen appears to have been made at the end of last year.

It is the latest uncertainty surrounding book chains in Oxford.

Earlier this month, it emerged that the family running Blackwell’s, the UK’s largest independent bookseller, had put the business up for sale.

A deal would take Blackwell’s, which operates 18 shops and a website, out of family control for the first time in its 143-year history.

Read more: Blackwell's could be bought by Waterstones

According to the Guardian, the chain said it was looking for an external investor after a plan to put the business into employee ownership fell through.

It said that goal "ultimately proved to be difficult, due in large part to the ongoing uncertainty on the high street caused by Covid-19".

Oxford Mail:

It is understood that Waterstones is now in talks to buy Blackwell's.

Waterstones, which is owned by the US-based hedge fund Elliott Advisors, has secured a period of exclusivity within which to negotiate a deal, it has been reported.

Oxford Mail:

If successfully completed, the acquisition of family-owned Blackwell's would unite it under common ownership with a number of other prominent bookselling brands, including Daunt Books, which has a branch in Summertown.

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