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The wonder of Woolies eh? An admission I rarely make in public, but as a student, I was a lucky lad who worked for Woolies and being the archival nerd I was back then (nobody dare comment!), attempted to get out of pick'n'mix re-filling for a couple of weeks by angling for a trip to HQ to 'do something' in the archives. Boss ably began the process of tracking down the right people and lo and behold, news came back that there was no such thing! Odd we thought at the time, especially since she remembers in the late 80s I believe, the 'Order' that all of the ledgers and 'older paper' that was generally still store based had to be sent to HQ. We shrugged shoulders at the time and I got back to the pick'n'mix. I do not have the same fond memories as other folk about that honest UK staple food - unwrapped sweets are never healthy. Andrew ***************************************************** Andrew R Nicoll Keeper of the Archives Scottish Catholic Archives Columba House, 16 Drummond Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6PL, Scotland Tel: 0131 556 3661 Fax: 0131 556 3661 E-Mail: [log in to unmask] Visit our new website: www.scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk The Scottish Catholic Archives is a Commission of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland Catholic National Endowment Trust (also known as the Bishops' Conference of Scotland) Charity Number: SCO 16650 ***************************************************** This message is sent in confidence for the addressee only and may contain legally privileged information. The contents are not to be disclosed to anyone other than the intended recipients. If you received this email in error, you are requested to preserve its confidentiality and advise the sender immediately. ***************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: Archivists, conservators and records managers. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gary Collins Sent: 06 July 2009 11:14 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Museums Journal article on business archives Dear all, You may be interested in an article on business archives in the latest edition of Museums Journal. For those of you who aren't members of the Museums Association and can't access the article online; here it is below. In business Deborah Mulhearn Issue 109/7, p20-25, July 2009 Company archives can provide a wealth of historical information, but many are under threat because of the recession. Deborah Mulhearn reports. Last winter, while shoppers were snapping up the last bargains from Woolworths before the store disappeared after 100 years on the British high street, business historian Peter Scott was searching for more valuable items at the company's headquarters in London's Marylebone Street. Scott, the director of the Centre for International Business History at the University of Reading's Henley Business School, was trying to locate and secure the archives of Woolworths, which had more than 800 UK stores at one time. He was initially hopeful, but ultimately unsuccessful, and disappointed that no one seems able or willing to say exactly what has happened to the archive. "The Woolworths archive has in effect disappeared," says Scott, "in as much as no information is available regarding the location or ownership of the archive, or even whether the archive has been preserved as a single collection." Woolworths, then known as FW Woolworth, opened its first British store in Liverpool in 1909. Its business records would be valuable, says Scott, for their insights into retail history. The mainly paper-based archive had material relating to its unique pricing policy of "nothing over 6d", its high turnover strategy and relationships with buyers. Woolworths' virtual museum has disappeared from the internet, with just a few photographs reappearing on the website created by Liverpool-based online retailer Shop Direct, which bought the Woolworths name. Scott believes that the current recession has revealed a wider problem of important archives being threatened when businesses fail. "Traditionally, we have relied on the goodwill of liquidators to cooperate with efforts to protect archives in the event of a company going bankrupt. But, given changes in corporate culture since the 1980s, not all firms can be counted on to take actions for which there is no clear monetary return," he warns. He says that companies don't always understand the value of their archives even though they might keep them. "The machinery is not in place to ensure their survival. There is no national strategy to safeguard them as collections." While a museum may be interested in specific items from a local company, they are not always in a position to take complete archives. Where company archives include business records, photographic material and objects, keeping them together can pose problems. Moving material into a trust affords some protection, says Stephen Laing, curator of the Heritage Motor Centre (HMC) at Gaydon in Warwickshire, a trust that rescued material from the former MG Rover car factory at Longbridge when it went into administration in 2005. "But in the final push there is no legal requirement to keep an archive intact," says Laing. "People on the periphery" The Heritage Motor Centre has older material from the original Austin Motor Company in its collection and worked with administrators to get access to the plant when MG Rover collapsed. "We were at a different starting point because of our existing relationship with the site," says Laing. "But it wasn't easy by any means. It's the biggest challenge for archivists because administrators and new owners don't necessarily want business history in the public domain. They are not usually keen on people on the periphery having access." Laing says if a local company is under threat of closure and a museum feels it might have relevant archives, it is a good idea for a museum to make connections before the gates close, even if it's just to compile a photographic record in the first instance. "Make personal contact before a company goes bust. The PR or marketing department is usually the best starting point, where you can demonstrate the benefits of material being in the public domain." Never knowingly under-archived A company's heritage, however, can also form part of its assets. "It's important to recognise that while we see the benefits of having company collections or archives in the public domain, companies themselves may want to keep it within the framework of the business," adds Laing. "It all depends on the politics of the particular company." Judy Faraday, archivist at John Lewis Partnership, says that many companies do look after their archives, but admits there are concerns that archives will be dispersed or lost if companies fail in the current economic downturn. "Some contain attractive and collectable items, which makes them more vulnerable because they are seen as assets by administrators to sell off to pay creditors," she says. "Other collections are reports and accounts and, while these are interesting for economic history, they have little commercial value." But this sort of material can provide context for museum artefacts, particularly where a company has been in an area for a long time. "There needs to be stronger links between businesses and museums and local records offices," says Faraday. To address this issue, the Business Archives Council (BAC), of which Faraday is a member, launches a national strategy this month to raise awareness and give advice on how business archives can be safeguarded and what both companies and museums can do with them. "Heritage has very strong appeal," says Faraday. "The credit crunch has made it even more important because businesses need to retain customers and longevity and tradition are powerful marketing tools. I hope they will start to realise that their archive is an asset and use it in positive and creative ways." She says that the BAC is trying to get liquidators and insolvency practitioners to recognise that archives are valuable. The council is also setting up a disaster plan advising archivists on how to cope in the event of a collapse, and building partnerships with universities and museums. Heritage fits well into the corporate social responsibility agenda, says Faraday, and there is much that businesses can do to capitalise on their archives and help secure their future. "Businesses and museums can and should take their relationship further for mutual benefits. Businesses could help museums, for example with marketing, and museums could help businesses with skills such as sending out a conservator, providing advice on using historic designs for products, and for community outreach." Sparks from Marks Marks & Spencer (M&S) put its archive on public display for the first time last month at the University of Leeds' Centenary Gallery. Michael Marks opened his stall at the city's Kirkgate market 125 years ago, and the archive includes more than 60,000 items, from products and photographs through to company literature and advertising. M&S and Leeds University are also in advanced discussions about relocating the entire company archive to Leeds and housing it in a purpose-built location on campus. The full archive would be open to the public and academics for the first time, though it would stay under M&S ownership. Many companies take their heritage seriously and appreciate its importance to community and social history. John Lewis has retired staff and volunteers looking after community archives, building websites and collecting oral histories. John Lewis is among the many examples of well-preserved and valued archives. Others include Unilever and HSBC, while some are protected in trust status such as Royal Mail, Wedgwood and Rothschild. Plenty of companies use heritage as a marketing tool, both through websites and by turning archives to commercial gain. John Lewis licenses its historic designs to fabric designers, and used an 1803 pattern found in the textile archives to create a fabric effect on the facade of the company's new store in Leicester. The architects cleverly made reference to the city's 200-year history of textiles and weaving, the translucency of saris worn by the Indian population living in Leicester, and John Lewis' own tradition of producing quality fabrics. Other companies have raided their own archives to reintroduce historic brands, designs and packaging. For its 160th anniversary this year, Boots created a nostalgic product range, taking both skincare recipes and packaging ideas from its archive. Woolworths was not the only company to open its first UK outlet in 1909: Selfridges unveiled its flagship store on London's Oxford Street in March of the same year. But while Woolworths has disappeared, 2009 is a year of celebration for Selfridges, which is running a range of events during its centenary. These include a 325-sq-metre exhibition at the Oxford Street store that has been curated by social historian Lindy Woodhead. It runs until 30 August and uses archive images and artefacts to chart the history of the business that American retailer Gordon Selfridge started in the UK 100 years ago. With current business practices under the microscope following the banking crisis and the recession that followed, companies are doing all they can to reassure customers about their stability. Using their archives to look back at more buoyant times is one way of doing this. Deborah Mulhearn is a freelance journalist Mutual benefits The archive of the Equitable Life Assurance Society (ELAS) was purchased by the UK actuarial profession in November 2006. Equitable Life has, by its own account, "undergone an exceptionally difficult period" since the 1990s. The society had kept its archive well, but it was at risk and buyers were sought. As the archive of the world's oldest mutual society, it charts not only its own beginnings in 1762, but also the origins and development of the modern insurance industry. "We have developed our special historical library collection, but have no cultural mission to buy archives as such," says librarian David Raymont. "The ELAS archive was exceptional for its unique historical interest to the profession and to researchers." It contains the first evidence of actuarial science in practice, where life expectancy was mathematically calculated from mortality data to set life-assurance premiums. Its records of policyholders, some well-known including English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and slave trade abolitionist William Wilberforce, can be a source for family researchers. "There was no legal protection to safeguard the archive and given its historic importance, individual items would have sold very well," says Raymont. "We were given the opportunity to buy the archive and luckily were able to raise funds through actuary members, firms and associations worldwide donating generously to prevent it being broken up and sold off. It meant we could keep the archive intact, with enough left over to pay for digitising key manuscripts and for storage, cataloguing and promotion." Links www.businessarchivescouncil.org.uk Regards, Gary Collins Project Archivist British Cartoon Archive Templeman Library University of Kent Canterbury CT2 7NU 01227 823109 (w) 07932 747649 (m) [log in to unmask] www.cartoons.ac.uk http://bcad.wordpress.com