14 November 2007

Dear Member

In the summer 2007 issue of Outlook when we published a substantial loss for the previous year, the Board stated "…the year had been one of challenges and disappointment, and changes will have to be made to the way OOTW operates." By October, we were very close to an agreement which would have resulted in a merger with the Cooperative group which would have safeguarded everyone's investment, but resulted in the loss of our autonomy. Unfortunately, this failed at the last hurdle and we have been unable to find a way of enabling OOTW to survive in what has become a very competitive environment.

Consequently, the Board has decided to call a members' meeting to propose that we go into liquidation. The reasons for all this will be made clear at this meeting on December 3rd 2007 if you are able to attend (click here for details), but a combination of the losses on the new store in York, escalating costs, internal operational problems, and a down turn in sales in all shops have made liquidation inevitable. The last straw was the opening of the new Sainbury's store immediately opposite our own shop in Gosforth in August this year, which resulted in the loss of 600 customers a week, and put the store into a loss making situation. The Nottingham and Leeds shops may well survive, and we are doing everything we can to help the current staff to buy these stores and continue trading.

Unfortunately, now that an insolvency advisor is directing us we will have to cease trading in the very near future, and we deeply regret that all investors, like yourselves, will not now be able to redeem their shares.

This is a very tragic end for Out of this World, but during the last 12 years we have been pleased to see organic, fair trade, local and eco-friendly products enter the main stream and the idea of Shopping for a Better World become commonplace. We like to think we have played a part in this. To some extent we have been the victims of our own success: ethical goods are now on every high street as we hoped. Unfortunately this is one of the main factors that has driven us into insolvency. The rise of the large supermarkets at the expense of small traders such as Out of this World continues, and it's difficult to see where it will end.

One of the most uplifting aspects of the last 12 years has been the extraordinary support that we have had from you, the members who invested in the idea from as far back in 1995, and repeatedly showed unfailing generosity throughout the difficult first few years. For all of us, this has been a source of both inspiration and reassurance that we were doing the right thing. So Thank You for all your support and I hope you feel that our part in furthering the rise of the ethical consumer has been some compensation for the loss of your money.

We would also like to record our gratitude to all of our staff who have worked tirelessly in what have become extremely difficult circumstances and shown great loyalty to Out of this World.

When all of this is over, a more complete account of the rise and fall of OOTW will be written, and can be obtained from jonwalker@aol.com. This should be completed early in 2008.

From all staff at Head Office

Jon Walker         Sue Fairbairn         Sandra Allen