I worked at Timpson from 1980 to 1986 after leaving Dolcis. I started as a Trainee Assistant Stock Controller and ended up as a Buyer/Merchandiser. After Timpson I went down to London to work at Top Shop/Top Man before skipping back up North to Barratts in 1988. Driving past the old Timpson House building at the weekend I saw it had been demolished! Looking all over Google I couldn’t find a photo of it – which is bizarre since it was such a prominent building, having been there since the sixties. I’m pretty sure that it was never fully rented since Timpson left it!
In later years, and I’m not sure when the warehouse which was across the yard from the offices was knocked down and Tesco as built on the site plus the old car park at the rear. I’ll never forget parking at the back and then when I got my first company car, getting a space a little bit nearer! I never got to park at the front, that was reserved for senior staff and directors but I remember the layout perfectly.
This is a picture of Timpson House before it was pulled down.
I’ll flesh this page out a little as I remember more about my life there. I actually have a staff magazine somewhere. I passed my Business Studies degree whilst working there and they paid for me to do it at Manchester Poly – which is now Manchester Metropolitan University. This was my introduction into life as a shoe buyer, a job that I progressed at Barratts from 1988 to 1996, after which I left to set up my own supply company.
Nigel Carr 2018©
