A renewed appeal is being made for a buyer to come forward for a popular book shop but needs an owner who can devote the necessary time.

Jules Button, owner of Woodbridge Emporium, has been looking to sell her Thoroughfare store because she was trading so successfully, she could not continue running both the book shop and the loose-leaf tea side of the business.

However, she said potential buyers had viewed the shop as an ‘investment,’ in an empty premise, rather than a ‘going concern’ to continue in its current form.

“We have had lots of offers to buy the shop empty, but we are holding out a while longer as we really would like to sell it as a going concern.

"The Woodbridge community loves us and our customers are always asking who the new owners are going to be,” she said.

Her ideal new owner would be a ‘wordsmith’ with a passion for books who would love the shop as much as she has.

She added: “We just need to find someone as passionate about books as we are. Plus, they get to live above the book shop, so it’s a really quirky and unique way of life.”

In February, she said: “Because the shop is doing so well, I can’t do both the book shop and the loose-leaf side.

"We did a lot of work with front line workers during the pandemic and we have done a lot of work over the last two years keeping the book shop open.

“Now basically, we don’t have the time to run the two anymore and so we decided to sell the freehold.”

The loose-leaf tea element of the business is moving to Christine’s Patisserie and Tearoom in Thoroughfare in April.

The shop specialises in science fiction and fantasy books, as well as classics and modern paper backs.

She will continue running the book shop until a new owner is found.