The Holt Jackson Book Co, whose head office is on Preston Road, has been acquired by The Little Group.

The entire workforce has been told it will have to relocate to Preston by the end of this year when the company leaves its current premises.

The Little Group, based in Eastbourne, has also acquired the Askew Group Limited, which includes Askew’s Library Services Limited, based in Preston.

A spokesperson for Holt Jackson said the firm would be operating independently of Askew’s.

But she revealed: “The company has announced that the lease on these premises is due to expire and therefore we will be moving to Preston.”

She said the whole workforce had been offered relocated jobs and that redundancies, either compulsory or voluntary, were not being sought.

She said the move should be completed “hopefully by the end of the year”.

“The company will have disappeared from Lytham but still operating in different premises,” she said.

“Until we talk to staff, and we have not got to that process at the moment, we are not in a position to say how it has been received at the moment.

Concerns

“They have to have the opportunity to discuss any concerns they have.”

The spokesperson said unions were not involved.

Established in 1932, Holt Jackson is one of the major library book suppliers in the UK.

They sell to libraries in the UK and abroad, universities, colleges and schools, and to businesses, prisons, government departments and other organisations.