A book publisher that collated a collection of Nicola Sturgeon’s speeches has been acquired by a Yorkshire-based company after being placed into liquidation.

All assets and stock of Sandstone Press, founded 21 years ago, have been snapped up by Vertebrate Publishing which will keep the business going.

Dingwall-based Sandstone is a former Saltire Society publisher of the year and Jokha Alharthi, one of its authors, won the Man Booker International Prize in 2019 for her novel Celestial Bodies.

Women Hold up Half the Sky: Selected Speeches of Nicola Sturgeon, was published in May 2021. The phrase was attributed to former China leader chairman Mao.

Its other authors include Scottish novelists such as Zoe Strachan, Daniel Shand and Peter Ross.

It had been backed by hundreds of thousands of pounds of support over the years from agencies such as Creative Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise but insisted the collection of the former First Minister’s writing had been published and financed without any state support.

Robert Davidson, one of Sandstone’s founders, warned earlier this year of difficult trading conditions in the sector with growing costs and overheads putting pressure on finances.