Dewhirst

[Leodian]

Thanks for the Dewhirst link jdbythesea. This bit in the history section particularly caught my eye:-"The Dewhirst story dates back to the nineteenth century yet speaks of constant innovation. In 1880, one Michael Marks began his commercial journey when he borrowed just £5 from a wholesaler, Isaac Dewhirst, to launch a chain of penny bazaars across Leeds.As well as providing seed funding Mr Dewhirst introduced Mr Marks to a cashier working within Dewhirst's wholesale business – Tom Spencer. The result was one of the most enduring success stories in the apparel industry's history. That first £5 now has pride of place on the wall of our central headquarters – an evocative reminder of our roots as a company"So the original £5 seems not to have been used as it "has pride of place on the wall". Fascinating!

[tilly]

Leodian wrote: Thanks for the Dewhirst link jdbythesea. This bit in the history section particularly caught my eye:-"The Dewhirst story dates back to the nineteenth century yet speaks of constant innovation. In 1880, one Michael Marks began his commercial journey when he borrowed just £5 from a wholesaler, Isaac Dewhirst, to launch a chain of penny bazaars across Leeds.As well as providing seed funding Mr Dewhirst introduced Mr Marks to a cashier working within Dewhirst's wholesale business – Tom Spencer. The result was one of the most enduring success stories in the apparel industry's history. That first £5 now has pride of place on the wall of our central headquarters – an evocative reminder of our roots as a company"So the original £5 seems not to have been used as it "has pride of place on the wall". Fascinating! I have just looked at a book titled Curious Tales from West Yorkshire.In this book it states That Marks opened his penny bazaar in Kirkgate in 1884.He then moved into the covered market in 1894 with spencer who put in £300 pounds it seems a lot of money for a cashier to have in 1894 or am i wrong?Sounds as though someone is.

[jdbythesea]

Reinforcing the link but I think I've seen this somewhere else on SL as well:                                http://www.openplaques.org/plaques/845