Inverness man says he always knew he wanted to run a bookshop in Highlands
A SECOND-hand bookshop buys stock from a variety of customers – including most recently the Highland News and Media group.
Charles Leakey, who runs Leakey’s Bookshop in Church Street, was offered a job lot of books when the group, which owns this newspaper, was moving some of its offices.
He said he acquired two carloads of books and added: “There was a lot of Scottish material, local material and a lot of books that had been sent to the Highland News for review. I am still going through it at the moment.”
Mr Leakey moved to the Highlands in 1979 and he said the only place for him was Inverness. He has had four different shops in the city and has been at his current location since 1992.
The oldest book he has bought, which he still possesses, was produced in 1492 and it was a theological text.
He said the key to running a good bookshop was having a good selection covering a range of subjects that people were interested in.
Mr Leakey knew he wanted to run a bookshop after working for one for a year while he was finishing his studies at university in Birmingham.
He said: “I was there for just under a year and it was a fantastic job. I was working for Stephen Wycherly and he knew his stuff. I learned so much from him and I learned how a second-hand book shop works.”
During the lockdown he still spent time in the shop sorting through various storage areas as well as books which he had not looked at for some time.
He has a number of safety measures in place and said: “People feel safe here. We want the tourists to come back now.”
