Allied Industrial Services Ltd.

Initial Services Ltd. had its roots in an enterprise launched in 1903 to provide a linen rental supply service, a concept virtually unknown in Europe at that time.

The major development in the history of Initial occurred in 1968 when it merged with Allied Industrial Services Ltd., another company engaged in the textile maintenance industry. Their activities overlapped to some extent, but were broadly complementary.

Allied owed its origins to a business founded in 1864 to operate a laundry service collecting, washing and drying rags used for cleaning industrial machinery. In 1900 this enterprise merged with two other businesses and in 1914 the company commenced the manufacture of its own cloths. The company's services were diversified by the introduction of a cleaning cloth rental service, and in 1928 it entered the work wear rental business.

Allied was floated in 1934; the business continued to expand, and made several significant acquisitions, notably:

• In 1958 the Scottish laundry group of A. Bell & Sons Ltd. was acquired with its laundry, dyeing and dry cleaning businesses and its interests in industrial and hotel linen supply services
• In 1961 Allied purchased the cleaning cloth business of Saul D Harrison Ltd. in Rochdale
• In 1962 General Industrial Cleaners Ltd, also in the workwear business, was acquired
• In 1965 Allied purchased an interest in Metlex Industries Ltd., a manufacturer of bathroom equipment.

The merger of Initial Services and Allied formed a group of companies with assets of £26 million employing some 6,000 full-time and part-tune employees at 170 premises. It brought together major companies in complementary markets. Initial Services specialized in 'clean work' such as towels and coats while Allied dealt principally in 'dirty work' (boiler suits and cleaning cloths).

by Paul Green

Bobby & Co. Ltd.

Bobby were a well-known English department store with branches mainly along the South Coast with 'outposts' in Southport & Leamington - generally well-heeled towns. They used the poster artist Gregory Brown on many occasions during the 1920s and 1930s such as this 1923 Christmas poster.


Bobby's were founded in Margate in 1887 and were bought by Debenhams in 1927. The name vanished c1972.

The history of Debenhams starts with a business opened in Margate during 1887, when a Mr. F. J. Bobby bought an already established drapery store. In 1900 it became a limited company and expansion followed through the years with stores in Leamington Spa, Folkestone, Eastbourne, Torquay, Cliftonville, Bournemouth, and Exeter. In Exeter, it was the business run by Green and Son on the High Street that was taken over by Bobbys in 1922.

When Mr. Bobby retired in 1927, the business was sold to Debenhams and his son became chairman of the group. Branches were added in Southsea, Reading, Worthing, Worcester and Totnes. During 1937, considerable improvements were made to the building and they became the largest store in the High Street. A restaurant was added with an in-house orchestra that would play during dinner and tea.

by Paul Green

Binns Ltd.

George Binns acquired Thomas Ellerby's draper's and haberdasher's store at 176 High Street, Bishop's Wearmouth, Sunderland, England, in 1811. After George Binns's death in 1836 the business passed to his eldest son, Henry Binns, and in 1865, when Henry retired the business passed on to his son Joseph John Binns, trading under the name of H. Binns, Son & Co. In October 1884, Joseph John Binns decided to move the business from the High Street to a residential thoroughfare at 38-39 Fawcett Street, Sunderland.

A limited liability company was incorporated on the 9 April 1897 under the name of H. Binns, Son & Co. Ltd. with registered offices at 39 Fawcett Street, Sunderland.

In 1922, H. Binns, Son & Co. Ltd. established the first branch of Binns on High Row, Darlington, England, when the business and premises of Arthur Sanders Ltd, department store, were purchased and developed. In 1922, Joseph John Binns died and was replaced by John Simpson as chairman of the company.

In 1923, Thomas Jones & Co, department store, Middlesborough, England, was acquired and, in 1924, the purchase of property from W J Reed enabled the company to develop the Fawcett Street premises in Sunderland. The expansion of H. Binns, Son & Co. Ltd. continued throughout the following years with the acquisition of Gray Peverell & Co. Ltd., department store, West Hartlepool, England, in 1926; Fowler & Brock Ltd, department store, South Shields, England, in 1927; James Coxon & Co. Ltd., department store, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, in 1929; F. Robinson & Co. Ltd., department store, with premises in Carlisle, Cumbria, England, and Dumfries, Scotland, in 1934, and Robert Maule & Son Ltd, drapers, Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, also in 1934.

In 1934, the name of the company was changed to Binns Ltd and in 1948 the registered offices of the company were changed to 8/10 Holmeside, Sunderland.

In early 1953, a bid by House of Fraser Ltd, department store retailers, Glasgow, Scotland, was opposed by the board of directors of Binns Ltd, following a revaluation of the company's property. However, in April 1953 after a bitter takeover battle Binns Ltd became a subsidiary of House of Fraser Ltd with Hugh Fraser assuming the position of chairman. The registered offices of the company were changed in that year to 35/42 Fawcett Street, Sunderland.

By 2002, Binns Ltd was a non-trading company with registered offices at 1 Howick Place, London, England. In the same year five Binns stores were trading for House of Fraser Plc.

by Paul Green

E. J. & Co. (Edwin Jones & Co.)

 It was a humble beginning for Edwin Jones, a name that many Southampton people will still recall, who went on to become one of the south's most influential businessmen of his time.

Edwin Jones came from Romsey and opened a small single fronted shop in Southampton's East Street with his sister and a 12-year-old apprentice.

The date was 1860 and from the start Edwin proved himself to be a retailer with a keen eye and shortly he moved to larger premises in the same street.

Although bigger in size there was still little room for living space and so while his sister used the one bedroom over the shop, Edwin was forced to sleep on a small collapsible bed behind the counter every night.

The business continued to grow and soon he bought up the well known pub, The Blue Boar, to gain extra space for his shop.

After a failed attempt to buy a Wesleyan Chapel, even though he offered to build another one, he turned his attention to the property facing the parks; by 1880, he had demolished these and built a new shop, known as Queen's Buildings.

Edwin Jones went on to become mayor of Southampton in 1873 and again in 1875. A newspaper of the time recorded that he hosted a large fete for 12,000 local children and 6,000 other guests.

In 1890 he retired from the council and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire but six years later Edwin Jones died, leaving behind a store, today called Debenham's, which was the largest and most important on the south coast.

by Paul Green

E.H. Booth & Co. Ltd.

Booths is a chain of supermarkets in Northern England. Most of its branches are located in Lancashire, but there are also branches in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. Booths is targeted at the middle class market and competes on quality as opposed to just value. It has been developed on the motto "to sell the best quality goods in shops staffed by first class assistants".

E.H. Booth & Co. Ltd. was founded in June 1847 when 19-year-old tea dealer Edwin Henry Booth opened a shop called The China House in Blackpool. In 1863, he added the sale of wines and spirits, and branches were opened in Lytham in 1879 and Blackburn in 1884. Edwin's son John opened cafes in the stores in 1902 and invited all staff to become shareholders in 1920.

It has remained owned by the Booth family ever since, the current chairman being the fifth generation. It became a private limited company in 1896. From humble beginnings as a tea shop in Blackpool, Booths grew into the first chain of supermarkets in the area, and even though it has now been eclipsed by bigger supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury's, it boasted 29 stores across the region in 2011.

In 2006, Booths achieved second place in the list of the World's Greatest Food Retailers. The panel of top designers, architects, analysts, journalists, suppliers and retailers was brought together by national trade publication, The Grocer, and asked to rank their favorite food retailers from anywhere in the world. They were impressed by the quality of the company’s offer, its focus on local sourcing and head for innovation.

A new head office was custom built and opened in early 2006. It is in Ribbleton, Preston and includes a wealth of environmentally friendly features, such as using rainwater to flush the toilets.

In 2008, Booths and Waitrose, which share similar policies on food quality and customer service, formed a buying alliance allowing the companies to benefit from larger economies of scale.

Booths has largely concluded re-branding the company. This has involved replacing the former 'Booths the grocer' image, based on green and orange; with a newer look, based upon wine, lavender, olive and saffron colors.

This has included a new store logo, new uniforms, redesigned carrier bags, and new look packaging on products to incorporate the new colors.

by Paul Green

Cryselco Limited

 Cryselco Limited was established in 1895 to manufacture the then new concept of electric lamps (15 years after Thomas Edison had invented the light bulb) at premises in Kempston, Bedford. The main shareholders were the Deacon family.

The name is pronounced "Chris Elko" as it is taken from the original trading style of the CRYStal ELectric COmpany.

During the 1930s the Company had prospered so well that it was regarded as a monopoly by the Government and was split up and sold to two smaller rivals: Philips and General Electric Company (G.E.C.)

Lamp manufacturing continued at the Bedfordshire site until the late 1950s when production was transferred to other UK plants by the parent companies. Light fittings had been produced by Cryselco since the early 1950's and this became the main output of the Company up until 1988 when the 40 acre site that the Company occupied was sold for housing.

 The factory re-sited about a mile away to its current site (shown in the photographs here - the office features Cryselco's own FLY range lights) and continued to manufacture light fittings. In 1992 the Company was sold to a London financier who was building up a large lighting group.

Several Companies of this new group got into financial difficulties in 1993 and this lead to the collapse of the whole group. The Cryselco element had been trading profitably during this time and numerous offers were made to purchase Cryselco Lighting.

The assets of the Company were purchased by the landlords in December 1993 and the 17,000 square foot (1,600 square meter) property was subsequently transferred to the Company as an asset.

Cryselco continues to trade profitably and supplies the electrical wholesale trade with commercial light fittings. The light fittings produced by the Company have been specified by many well known Companies, including major Banks, many large high street retailers and Public bodies such as the Benefits Agency, Inland Revenue, and many schools and hospitals.

by Paul Green

Gibbs and Dandy Ltd.

 The company can trace its roots back to a time when Luton was a country town without a railway. The founders of the firm were not called either Gibbs or Dandy, but in fact were Frederick Brown and Joseph Green, who sold their ironmongery business in George Street to George Frederick Gibbs.

The first Dandys came on the scene in 1894 when the business was purchased by William and Percy Dandy. Mr Gibbs retired, but the Dandy brothers (who originally hailed from Peterborough) maintained the local connection by naming the newly-acquired business Gibbs and Dandy.

The brothers continued trading as a partnership until 1920 when a private limited company was formed. The company prospered, new premises were acquired in Luton and Dunstable and in July 1953 Gibbs and Dandy was floated on the Birmingham Stock Exchange.

In 1968 the company acquired Frederic Gale Ltd, a Bedford-based public company in the same line of business. Land was later acquired in Barker’s Lane, Bedford, to which this and other associated businesses were relocated in 1975. A new branch was opened in Northampton in 1985, specializing in decorating and electrical supplies.

Meanwhile Gibbs and Dandy had continued grow in Luton, with the result that it now had three sites in different parts of the town. This was clearly inefficient, and in 1987 these operations were consolidated onto a single 7-acre site in Dallow Road, which also became Head Office. It was a brave move that paid off and 3 years later the company was back on the acquisition trail, buying two branches in St Neots and St Ives (Cambs) from David Smith (St Ives) Ltd.

In 1996 the company’s foothold in Northampton was strengthened when it moved to larger premises in Heathfield Way, adopting a one-stop product profile which now included plumbing, heating, sanitary ware and heavy side.

In the following year came another acquisition, this time to the south of the company’s existing trading area, when it bought the two branches of Miller, Morris and Brooker Ltd in Slough and  Maidenhead. To further establish its presence in the Thames Valley, Gibbs and Dandy acquired Elliott & Co (Henley) Ltd. in January 2002.

The company then strengthened its position in Northamptonshire by acquiring Brackley Timber & Joinery in December 2004 and Timber Force UK, Kettering in August 2005. It moved into Leicestershire when it acquired Carson Fletcher Timber in Market Harborough in 2007 and added a further branch in the county when it took control of EP Builders’ Merchants, South Wigston in 2009.

by Paul Green