Originally set up in a chicken shed in 1968 by Elsie Bertram and her son, Kip Bertram (ON 55-62), Bertram Books grew to be the UK’s leading book supplier and is now celebrating 50 years of business.
Although the business was sold out of the family in 1999, it still retains the Bertram name, most recently being rebranded as part of the ‘Bertram Group’. Bertram Books still plays a leading role in Norfolk life today, providing a single source of supply from over 5,000 publishers out of an 185,000 square foot warehouse in the Broadland Business Park on the outskirts of Norwich.
The Bertram family moved to Norwich after the Second World War, where Elsie began a small business supplying books from a chicken shed at the back of their family home on Earlham Road. Bertram Books was formed in 1968 when Kip joined the business, and soon the business was too big for the chicken sheds in their garden. The company moved to rented premises in Guardian Road and then onto a warehouse at The Nest, the old Norwich City football ground on Rosary Road. By 1999, when the family sold the business, Bertram Books employed 750 people and had a £60m turnover, making it the UK’s leading book supplier to retailers small and large in the UK and overseas.
In addition to their business exploits, Kip and his brother Nigel (ON 56-66) are trustees for the Norfolk Diabetes Trust, which was set up by Elsie in 1987. Both Kip and Nigel are diabetic, a condition which affected their days at Norwich School as sufferers lacked adequate support for managing the condition. Elsie devoted much of her time and energy in later life to raising money and awareness of diabetes and her donations and fundraising efforts led to the opening of the Bertram Diabetes Centre at the West Norwich Hospital in 1989. In 2001, the centre was relocated to the new Norfolk and Norwich Hospital site in Colney. After Elsie passed away in 2003, it was re-named as the Elsie Bertram Diabetes Centre in recognition of her huge contributions to the cause. Kip and Nigel continue to support the Norfolk Diabetes Trust, which in 2017 celebrated its 30 year anniversary.
