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William Hamley
Hamleys of London Limited, trading as Hamleys, is a British multinational toy retailer, owned by Reliance Retail. Listed in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as the world's oldest toy store, it was founded by William Hamley as "Noah's Ark" in High Holborn, London, in 1760. It moved to its current site on Regent Street in London's West End in 1881. This flagship store is set over seven floors, with more than 50,000 lines of toys on sale. It receives around five million visitors each year. The Chain store, chain has 11 outlets in the United Kingdom and also has more than 90 franchises worldwide. Hamleys became famous in the early Victorian era, with royalty among its customers. The store was granted its first Royal warrant of appointment (United Kingdom), royal warrant from Mary of Teck, Queen Mary in 1938. It held a royal warrant from Elizabeth II from 1955 to 2022 (her death). History Hamleys is the oldest and in 1994 was the largest toy shop in the world. It is named after Wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Companies House
Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, companies in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1844, no central company register existed and Company, companies could only be Incorporation (business), incorporated through letters patent and Act of Parliament (UK), legislation. At the time, few incorporated companies existed; between 1801 and 1844, only about 100 companies were incorporated. The Joint Stock Companies Act 1844 created a centralised register of companies, enabled companies to be incorporated by registration, and established the office of the registrar; the Joint Stock Companies Act 1856 mandated separate registrars for each of the three Jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, UK jurisdictions. Initially just a brand, Companies House became an official executive agency in 1988. All P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lines Bros
Lines Bros Ltd was a British toy manufacturer of the 20th century, operating under the Tri-ang Toys brand name. Lines Bros Ltd, at its peak in 1947, was claimed by the company to be the largest toy maker in the world. Under the Tri-ang Toys brand name, Lines Bros Ltd also made children's bicycles, such as the Unity Dragster TT. History The brothers George and Joseph Lines made wooden toys in the Victorian era, their company being G & J Lines Ltd. George was a trained carpenter, while Joseph was more business focused. Joseph had four sons, three of whom formed Lines Bros Ltd soon after the World War I, First World War. They were William, Walter and Arthur Lines. Three Lines making a triangle - hence Tri-ang. Arthur's son, Richard Lines (toy manufacturer), Richard Lines, was largely responsible for the Tri-ang Railways system. At the start of the Second World War, production of children's toys was deemed non-essential by the British Government. As a result, production facilities w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yangtze River Delta, Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and Chinese culture, culture, having served as the historical capitals of China, capital of various Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century to 1949, and has thus long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism, being the home to Port of Nanjing, one of the world's largest inland ports. The city is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial city, sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China, administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly les ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821), are published by Times Media, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' were founded independently and have had common ownership only since 1966. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. ''The Times'' was the first newspaper to bear that name, inspiring numerous other papers around the world. In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as or , although the newspaper is of national scope and distribution. ''The Times'' had an average daily circulation of 365,880 in March 2020; in the same period, ''The Sunday Times'' had an average weekly circulation of 647,622. The two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Fraser
House of Fraser (rebranding to Frasers) is a British department store chain with 23 locations across the United Kingdom and 2 in Ireland, part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it was known as Fraser & Sons. The company grew steadily during the early 20th century and in 1936 began a period of growth through acquisition which would continue for over forty years. House of Fraser Ltd was incorporated in 1941 and first listed on the London Stock Exchange six years later. After the Second World War a large number of acquisitions transformed the company into a national chain. Purchases included Scottish Drapery Corporation (1952), Binns (department store), Binns (1953), Barkers of Kensington (1957) and the Harrods group (1959). Later acquisitions included J J Allen (1969), Dingles (department store), Dingles (1971), Howells (department store), Howells of Cardiff (1972) and Army & Navy Stores (United Kingdom), Army & Navy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landsbanki
Landsbanki (, ), also commonly known as Landsbankinn (, ) was one of the largest Icelandic commercial banks; it failed as part of the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis when its subsidiary sparked the Icesave dispute. On October 7, 2008, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority took control of Landsbanki and created a new bank for all the domestic operations called Nýi Landsbanki (New Landsbanki) and the bank continued to operate under the same name.The Financial Supervisory Authority - Iceland, ''News: Based on New Legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (IFSA) Proceeds to take Control of L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baugur Group
Baugur Group (; Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic investment company. The group began as a supermarket and general retail company in Iceland, before diversifying to own a number of businesses at its peak, primarily in the United Kingdom. Baugur was heavily affected by the Icelandic financial crisis that began in 2008, and applied for bankruptcy protection in February 2009. Its largest creditor Landsbanki applied to place Baugur's UK arm, BG Holdings, into administration that month. The group filed for bankruptcy in March 2009. History In 1989, the Baugur Group was started by the opening of a single 'Bónus' supermarket in Reykjavík by Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson and his father, Jóhannes Jónsson. The company grew quickly and within three years was operating several supermarkets in Iceland. In 1992, Hagkaup, the leading domestic retailer, acquired 50% of shares in Bonus. In 1993, they merged and formed a joint purchasing company named Baugur. Hagkaup was established over 50 ye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Harris, Baron Harris Of Peckham
Philip Charles Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham (born 15 September 1942), is an English businessman and politician. A prominent Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party donor, before switching to Labour Party (UK), Labour in 2024, Harris is a member of the House of Lords. He is the sponsor of a large Academy (English school), multi-academy trust, the Harris Federation. Interests Business Harris is currently an advisor and shareholder of Tapi Carpets, a flooring retailer set up recently by a number of the old Carpetright management team. Harris was the Chairman of Carpetright plc and has over fifty years' experience in carpet retailing. Harris left Carpetright in 2014, sold all of his shares and he is no longer associated with the company. He was chairman and chief executive of Harris Carpets. Harris Carpets acquired Queensway (retailer), Queensway in 1977 to become Harris Queensway plc until the company was taken over in 1988. Harris was also a non-executive director of G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queensway (retailer)
Queensway was a retailer in the United Kingdom that specialised in the sale of carpets and furniture. It was a pioneer of out of town shopping and one of the first retailers in the U.K. to sell directly to customers from a warehouse. It was founded in 1967 by Anthony Parish in Norwich with £50. Within a few months Queensway moved to a nearby disused warehouse. Parish's strategy was to sell carpets in the same way supermarkets sell food. The success of this approach enabled the company to rapidly expand to 26 branches in 1970 and by 1975, it had 38 branches across the country. In the mid-1970s it was due to float with an expected market capitalisation of around £7 million but due to a serious downturn in the economy the float was withdrawn. Managing director Anthony Parish was by now was suffering from ill health and, after a boardroom coup, the company was sold to Phillip Harris in 1977 and it became Harris Queensway plc. On 20 December 1985, Queensway opened a store at the Mer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burton Group
Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (BHS), Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop, Wallis and Warehouse. At its peak, the group had more than 2,500 outlets in the UK and concessions in UK department stores and several hundred franchises operated internationally. The company was majority owned by Taveta Investments, owned by Tina Green, wife of Sir Philip Green, chairman of the Arcadia Group. BHS, also owned by Green, was integrated into Arcadia in 2009. In 2015 the then loss-making BHS was sold for £1 to Retail Acquisitions Ltd, owned by Dominic Chappell. In 2019, on the bankruptcy of BHS, British MP Frank Field, who previously investigated the BHS pension deficit, criticised Philip Green for paying considerable dividends to hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Debenhams
Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord. In its final years, its headquarters were within the premises of its flagship store in Oxford Street, London. The range of goods sold included middle-to-high-end clothing, beauty, household items, and furniture. The company suffered financial difficulties in the 21st century and entered administration twice, in April 2019 and April 2020. In November 2020, Debenhams' main concession operator Arcadia also entered administration, leading to the collapse of potential rescue talks with JD Sports and Frasers Group. As a result, Debenhams announced it would be liquidated. The Debenhams brand and website were purchased by the online retai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
