Drapery Trust (initially called the Drapery & General Investment Trust Ltd) formed in 1925 by Clarence Hatry, a notorious British financier. He had made his fortune in speculating on oil stocks, and had convinced investors to promote department stores and bring them under the management of a retail conglomerate. The business was acquired by Debenhams in 1927 and was run as a subsidiary until the 1970s.

History

Marshalls Managing Director Ronald Glaze had originally had the idea for the trust, which Hatry found commercially attractive, and Glaze would become the managing director of the new business. Each family owned department store was purchased by the issuing of public shares. By 1927, the business had 65 stores, 11,000 staff and over 18 million sales annually, and had acquired the Piccadilly business of Swan & Edgar from Charterhouse Investment Trust for £1,250,000 to act as their flagship. The Scottish business of Pettigrew & Stephen was sold to the newly formed Scottish Drapery Corporation in the form of shares in the new organisation during 1927. However the business was acquired by

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 gr ...

in November 1927, when they purchased 75% of the Drapery Trust shares at a cost of £2,350,000, which was funded by Hatry's company Austin Friars Trust purchasing £1,600,000 of Debenhams shares. The business was kept as a separate subsidiary from the main Debenhams group, but with board members of Debenhams joining the board of the trust. The business continued to grow by purchasing R R Talbot of

Weymouth, Dorset Weymouth ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Dorset (district), Dorset district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. Situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey, Dorset, River Wey, south of the county town of ...

, adding it to its Plummer Roddis business. In 1929, as part of his fraudulent plan to raise the cash for his deal to purchase United Steel, Hatry forged £478,100 of shares in the Drapery Trust, but by September 1929 he had confessed to his crimes. In 1931,

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...

started proceedings to enforce recovery of £493,100 that was against mortgages of property due to concerns of fraudulent behaviour. By 1932 the trust controlled: *Bon Marche (

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

) * Bobby & Co.(

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

and others) * Curl Brothers,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

*Dawson Brothers (

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) *Drages Furniture Store ( High Holborn,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

) *Frank Drury & Co (

) *Footman, Pretty & Co (

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

) *Gardiner & Co (Ipswich) *Green & Edwards Ltd *J Howells (Ipswich) *Jones & Co (

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

) * Edwin Jones (

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

) *William Lefevre *Marshalls Ltd (the former Yorkshire arm of Marshall & Snelgrove, operated stores in Bradford, Harrogate, Leeds, Scarborough, Sheffield and York) * Kennards (

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, Staines) *Pauldens (

) * Plummer Roddis (

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

& others) *Scottish Drapery Corporation *Selincourt & Sons **Also controlled Margaret Marks Ltd *Spooner & Co (

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

) *Staddons Ltd (Barking Road, London) *Stagg & Russell (

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

, formerly Stagg & Mantle and H C Russell) *Warwick House (Birmingham) However, in 1932 the company could not pay a dividend to Debenhams, when in 1931 it had paid £75,000. The company's finances did not improve, so by 1934 the business profits had fallen to £61,921 from £102,767 that had been made in 1933. Because of the worsening financial situation and the damaged reputation due Debenhams connections to Hatry, Maurice Wright, a member of both Debenhams and Drapery Trust board completed a rewriting of the capital in 1934, merging the three operations share holdings, Debenhams, Debenhams Securities and Drapery Trust, which slashed the company's issued capital from £15,100,000 to £6,000,000. The subsidiary continued to restructure by selling the Drages business to Great Universal Stores in 1937. In the 1970s it was decided to bring all the business under one brand, and so the stores of the Drapery Trust were either converted into Debenhams, or were closed.

References

External links

* {{PM20, FID=co/072921, TEXT=Documents and clippings about, NAME= Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Debenhams Holding companies of the United Kingdom 1925 establishments in England British companies established in 1925 Holding companies established in 1925 Retail companies established in 1925