Sears plc

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British conglomerate

title: "Sears plc" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["defunct-companies-based-in-london", "conglomerate-companies-established-in-1891", "conglomerate-companies-disestablished-in-1999", "1999-disestablishments-in-england", "clothing-retailers-of-the-united-kingdom", "1891-establishments-in-england"] description: "British conglomerate" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_plc" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British conglomerate ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameSears plc
typeConglomerate
fateAcquired by Philip Green
successorArcadia Group
foundation
defunct
locationLondon, United Kingdom
industryRetail
key_peopleCharles Clore (chairman)
num_employees65,000
::

::callout[type=note] British conglomerate ::

| name = Sears plc | logo = | type = Conglomerate | caption = | fate = Acquired by Philip Green | successor = Arcadia Group | foundation = | defunct = | location = London, United Kingdom | industry = Retail | key_people = Charles Clore (chairman) | products = | num_employees = 65,000 | parent = | subsid = Sears plc was a large British-based conglomerate. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by Charles Clore in the 1950s who expanded the company to be one of the largest retailers in Britain. It was acquired by Philip Green in 1999 who oversaw the break up of the group.

History

The business was founded by John and William Sears in 1891 and initially traded as bootmakers under the name of Trueform.

In 1929 Sears acquired footwear retailers Freeman, Hardy and Willis.

Acquisition by Charles Clore

The business was acquired by Charles Clore in 1953 for £4 million, by which time it had over 900 shops. He renamed the group Sears Holdings in 1955 and went on to buy the Manfield and Dolcis shoe shop chains the following year, bringing the total number of shops up to almost 1,500.

Creation of British Shoe Corporation and diversification

In the late 1950s Clore consolidated all the shoe brands Sears had acquired under the name British Shoe Corporation under which name it also bought the recently merged Saxone Lilley & Skinner, another shoe shop chain with over 500 shops, in 1962. The same year, the group also tried to acquire brewer Watney Mann for £20 million. By the year-end, the group divided itself into four sub-divisions (British Shoe Corporation; Engineering; Motor distribution, and Mappin and Webb).

In 1964, the group acquired US linen hire and industrial laundry, Consolidated Industries, which it renamed Sears Industries. Sears Industries later acquired US knitwear manufacturer, Highlander.

Purchase of Lewis's department stores and Selfridges

Sears decided to invest in department stores in 1965 acquiring Lewis's Investment Trust which itself controlled Selfridges for £63 million.

Following large losses, in October 1968, Clore sold the Furness Shipbuilding yard to the Swan Hunter group for £2.5 million, retaining a small shareholding in Swan Hunter.

The company diversified again in 1971, buying William Hill, a chain of bookmakers. They fully acquired Mappin & Webb in 1973. They later acquired 20% of Asprey & Co.

Housebuilding and retirement of Clore

In January 1975, the group was made up of the following divisions: Footwear retailers and manufacturers (British Shoe Corporation, now also including Curtess); Departmental stores (Selfridges, Miss Selfridge, Lewis's and Robinson & Cleaver); Engineering; Motor vehicle sales and service (SMT Sales and Service, Ritchies, Shaw & Kilburn, Gilbert Rice); Jewellery retailers (Mappin & Webb, Garrard & Co, Arthur Conley & Son) and miscellaneous (Liverpool bakers S Reece & Sons); Licensed betting offices (William Hill); Linen hire and industrial laundries (Sears Industries) and knitwear manufacture (Highlander). The group also had a 20-30% interest in the Freemans mail order business and a 6% interest in Swan Hunter. They also acquired at the year end housebuilder Galliford Estates.

Clore retired as chairman in 1976 and was replaced by solicitor Leonard Sainer.

Sports and Leisure

In 1980, they acquired clothing retailer Wallis and US-based Butler Shoe Corporation in 1981. They sold Sears Industries in January 1982. In 1982, jewelers Conley were renamed Walker & Hall and in 1983, Sears acquired a 20% interest in Central Independent Television.

Men's retail

By 1985, Sears was Britain's largest shoe retailer. Foster Brothers Clothing, which owned Adams Childrenswear and Millets, were acquired in 1985.

In April 1986, it supported a management buyout of Mallett Antiques, investing £6 million for a 50% stake but reducing it to 26% by the listing of the company in March 1987.

In July 1987, menswear retailer Horne Brothers was acquired for £34 million.

Freemans catalogue

In 1988 Freemans was fully acquired by Sears for £480 million,

Disinvestments

In 1986 and 1987, the group restructured and closed or disposed the remaining engineering businesses and sold off the motor group to Lex Services for £86 million.

The Lewis's department store business and the Butler group were sold in 1988, although the company retained ownership of the Lewis stores in Glasgow and Hanley. They announced in October 1989 a withdrawal from housebuilding and they also started to dispose of some of the group's property interests.

In July 1990, Sears sold Mappin & Webb and Garrard to Asprey plc in exchange for an increased stake in Asprey, giving them a 38.5% interest in the expanded group.

In May 1992, the group decided to remove themselves from menswear retail sector and sold Fosters in September 1992. In April 1993, it finally left the housebuilding sector with the sale of Galliford.

It acquired Richard Shops in October 1992.

In August 1995, it sold Freeman Hardy Willis, Manfield and True Form to entrepreneur Stephen Hinchliffe and his business Facia, and in October 1995, sold Olympus Sports.

By 1996, the group had the following divisions: Footwear (Shoe Express, Shoe City, Saxone, Dolcis, Curtess, Roland Cartier, Cable & Co, Hush Puppies, Lilley & Skinner); Home Shopping (Freemans); Selfridges; Sears Clothing (Richards, Wallis, Warehouse, Miss Selfridge, Adams Childrenswear, The Outfit); Sears Group Properties (including The Selfridges Hotel, Part ownership of The St. Enoch Shopping Centre in Glasgow, 3,000 retail shops being mostly leasehold with a few freehold jewels such as 190 Oxford Street and 330 Oxford Street known as the Top Shop flagship store.); SearsCard and Sears Retail Services.

Break up of the British Shoe Corporation

In February 1996 the group also sold Saxone and Curtess to Facia. In August 1996, the Hush Puppies retail business was sold to Stylo plc and the wholesale business to Wolverine World Wide. The remaining parts of British Shoe Corporation were sold by early 1998, at an accounting loss of £150 million. In 1997, the shoes concession business was sold to Nine West for £9 million; Dolcis was sold to the Alexon Group; Shoe Express was sold to a consortium headed by Philip Green; Shoe City to Belgium group Brantano; and finally Cable & Co to Nine West.

Millets was sold in March 1996, ending the Sports & Leisure division

Acquisition by Philip Green

Sears plc was acquired by January Investments on behalf of Green in January 1999 for £548 million. The company delisted from the London Stock Exchange in March 1999 and re-registered as a private company (Sears Limited) on 12 April 1999. Following the sale, Freemans plc and Creation Financial Services (formerly SearsCard) were sold off, leaving the group with Sears Clothing and Sears Properties.

The womenswear business (comprising Warehouse, Richards, Wallis, Outfit and Miss Selfridge) was subsequently transferred to Arcadia Group for £151 million. Philip Green later purchased the Arcadia Group, regaining control of Wallis and Miss Selfridge alongside Arcadia's other brands (Arcadia having closed Richards, and sold Warehouse to Rubicon Retail).

Brands owned by Sears

Footwear retailers and manufacturers

  • True Form (1891-1995)
  • Freeman Hardy Willis (1929-1995)
  • Curtess (1954-1996)
  • Manfield (1956-1995)
  • Dolcis (1956-1997)
  • Saxone (1962-1996)
  • Lilley & Skinner (1962-?)
  • Bertie
  • Butler Shoe Corporation (1981-1988)
  • Shoe City (198?-1997)
  • Shoe Express (1987-1997)
  • Roland Cartier
  • Shoe Connection (1995-1997)
  • Cable & Co (1988-1998)
  • Hush Puppies (-1996)

Departmental stores

Clothing

  • Wallis (1980-1999)
  • Miss Erika
  • Foster Brothers Clothing (1985-1992)
  • Your Price
  • Adams Childrenswear (1985-?)
  • Outfit (-1999)
  • Warehouse (-1999)
  • Horne Brothers (1987-?)
  • Richards (1992-1999)

Sports and Leisure

  • Olympus Sports (1978-1995)
  • Millets (1985-1996)

Engineering

Motor vehicle sales and service

  • SMT Sales and Service (1959-1987)
  • Ritchies (-1987)
  • Shaw & Kilburn (-1987)
  • Gilbert Rice (-1987)

Jewellery retailers and miscellaneous

Licensed betting offices

Linen hire and industrial laundries and knitwear manufacture

  • Consolidated Industries (renamed Sears Industries) (1964-1982)
  • Highlander

Housebuilding

Home shopping

Other

Brands after demise of Sears

Adams Childrenswear - trading as 'Adams Kids' - remained on the high street until 2010, after some difficulties over the years, and collapsed into administration twice in the late 2000s; former Stead & Simpson chairman John Shannon purchased a portion of the chain's outlets and the Adams brand, before the company fell into administration for a third time in 2010. The brand survives as an online business.

References

References

  1. Richard Davenport-Hines [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30943 Clore, Sir Charles (1904–1979)] ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004
  2. Andrew Godley, Business History Centre at Reading University [http://www.helsinki.fi/iehc2006/papers3/Godley.pdf American Multinationals and Innovation in British Retailing, 1850–1962] Helsinki Congress of the International Economic History Association, August 2006
  3. (15 September 1954). "J. Sears in £3,500,000 share purchase". [[The Times]].
  4. [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1962/feb/14/private-monopolies PRIVATE MONOPOLIES] Hansard, 14 February 1962
  5. (12 May 1960). "Mr Charles Clore's Review". [[The Times]].
  6. (12 October 1968). "Furness yard sold for £2½ million to Swan Hunter". [[The Times]].
  7. (31 January 1983). "Sears Holdings Annual Report 1982-83".
  8. (31 January 1975). "Sears Holdings Limited Annual Report 1974-1975".
  9. (12 March 1985). "Foster may accept rival bid". [[The Times]].
  10. {{usurped
  11. (31 January 1988). "Sears plc Annual Report 1987/88".
  12. "SEARS PLC History".
  13. (31 January 1987). "Sears plc Annual Report 1986-87".
  14. (31 January 1991). "Sears plc Annual Report 1990/91".
  15. (31 January 1993). "Sears plc Annual Report and Accounts 1992-93".
  16. (27 October 1991). "Where class wins over cash". [[The Guardian]].
  17. Clark, Michael. (6 February 1986). "Brokers braced for a fall as bonds continue to slide". [[The Times]].
  18. (31 January 1996). "Sears plc Annual Report and Accounts 1995-96".
  19. "FACIA BUYS SAXONE AND CURTESS FROM SEARS - PR Newswire".
  20. Cunningham, Sarah. (14 January 1997). "Sears needs the Clore magic to step back into City favour". [[The Times]].
  21. (1 February 1997). "British Shoe Corporation Limited Accounts 1 February 1997".
  22. Matthew Valentine. (12 February 1998). "British Shoe misses its step". Design Week.
  23. Nissé, Jason. (5 February 1998). "Sears close to US deal for Cable & Co". [[The Times]].
  24. (31 January 1999). "Sears Limited Directors' Report and Accounts".
  25. (21 January 1999). "Sears turns to Green". BBC News.
  26. (8 July 1999). "Sears sells womenswear business".
  27. Goodley, Simon. (20 May 2002). "Green poised to cross to Rubicon".
  28. [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/jan/05/adams-retail?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 Adams sheds 850 jobs as administrators close 111 shops] guardian.co.uk, 5 February 2009
  29. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/4624686/Childrenswear-retailer-Adams-bought-by-former-owner-John-Shannon.html Childrenswear retailer Adams bought by former owner John Shannon] The Telegraph, 14 February 2009
  30. [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jan/22/adams-childrenswear-administration Childrenswear chain Adams falls back into administration] guardian.co.uk, 22 January 2006
  31. [http://www.adams.co.uk/about-us About Us] Adams Kids

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defunct-companies-based-in-londonconglomerate-companies-established-in-1891conglomerate-companies-disestablished-in-19991999-disestablishments-in-englandclothing-retailers-of-the-united-kingdom1891-establishments-in-england