retail founded 1963 merger constituent parts older founder herbert e. williams 1862 1920 henry l. griffin 1855 1916 headquarters colchester united kingdom key people the ireland family parent fenwick website http www.fenwick.co.uk colchester fenwick colchester is a large high street department store situated in colchester essex england 51 53 23.38 n 0 53 52.89 e 51.8898278 n 0.8980250 e 51.8898278 ; 0.8980250 coordinates 51 53 23.38 n 0 53 52.89 e 51.8898278 n 0.8980250 e 51.8898278 ; 0.8980250 formerly known as williams & griffin 1963 2016 . . independent for much of its history it was formed from the merger of h.e. williams & co ltd an ironmonger and agricultural machinery business and another colchester family business h.l. griffin & co ltd a furnishings store in april 1963 . in 2007 williams & griffin won best independent department store of the year sponsored by drapers . the award was picked up by colchester s mp bob russell who proposed an early day motion on the topic 1 but in march 2008 was sold to the fenwick chain of department stores . 2 current departments include beauty fashion toys gifts housewares and furniture as well as top floor restaurant carluccio s. 3 contents 1 h. l. griffin & co. 2 h. e. williams & co. 3 williams & griffin 4 see also 5 references 6 external links h. l. griffin & co. edit henry griffin pictured before 1916 in his role as president of the old colcestrian society h. l. griffin & co had its beginnings early in the nineteenth century when a william griffin set up as a linen draper along with a business partner with the surname barrell . it was not long however before griffin was independent and adding haberdashery to his business with premises at 5 and 6 botolph street ; they were extended in number 7 in the 1840s . at the same time a shop on the high street was opened number 50 but this closed after a few years making way for premises on head street . in march 1855 william griffin senior retired leaving the business to his son william which was now styled griffin and son . another son george lainson griffin set up another drapery business on botolph street whilst a third john edward griffin set up as an auctioneer valuer and estate agent on queen street the same profession to which william griffin jr. also turned his hand after selling his drapery business in 1861 . 4 in the 1870s george set up a high street shop ; not long afterwards he was succeeded in this by his son by henry lainson griffin 1855 1916 certainly before 1891 . 5 henry was primarily an upholsterer the second of five children born to george and his wife caroline collins of stanway essex . 6 certainly the company swapped its colchester high street premises on february 1 1900 for new ones on head street 7 where it remained until 1963 . 8 originally dealing in the sale or let of both soft furnishings such as eider down quilts coal vases etc and houses 9 the former was its only enterprise at the time of merger with h. e. williams . its logo was a griffin ; this remained in the weeks following the merger despite the accompanying company name being altered . h. e. williams & co. edit h. e. williams & co. an ironmonger and agricultural machinery business was founded by herbert e. williams 1862 1920 before 1882 as williams and co. . 10 it was registered as a limited company in 1922 . 11 it traded both at high street premises which now form the modern site of williams & griffin and later also at roomier premises on cowdray avenue further from the town centre from where it sold most of its tractors and other farming equipment . 12 in 1950 after the sudden death of the then chairman and the managing director also a large shareholder the company was taken over by kenneth ireland 1915 1971 a farmer from nearby feering 12 it has been run since 1972 by his son bill . 13 at the time of the merger the company sold ironmongery kitchenware electrical radio and tv and nursery goods from its high street premises . 11 williams & griffin edit the williams and griffin logo used until 2016 in april 1963 h. l. griffin & co and h.e. williams & co merged to form a combined enterprise employing 110 people . 8 the griffin premises were soon sold within two years and the output merged to create a single department store . other acquisitions included a. & e.p. baker in 1964 a local ladies fashion store and heasman & son a jewellers on the high street founded before 1907 . 13 in 1966 the griffin family sold out their representative on the board jack griffin wished to retire due to ill health and his sons wanted to go their own separate ways . the majority shareholding was therefore taken up by the ireland family 11 and in 1969 the final vestige of the previous businesses williams cowdray avenue farm machinery sideline was sold to eastern tractors after two years worth of discussions though the ireland family kept ownership of the site . at this time williams & griffin s turnover was valued at 400 000 . 12 in 1981 however the decision was reversed and williams & griffin opened a garden centre on the site under the guidance of patrick ireland which ran until 1990 when the site was finally sold off and patrick ireland retired . 11 in 2007 williams & griffin won best independent department store of the year sponsored by drapers . 11 the award was picked up by colchester s mp bob russell who proposed an early day motion on the topic . 1 it remained in the control of the ireland family until its sale in march 2008 to the fenwick chain of department stores . 2 current departments include fashion toys gifts housewares and furniture as well as a top floor restaurant . 3 in 2015 it announced that following a major redevelopment of its site it would rebrand under the new fenwick name becoming fenwick colchester . 14 see also edit list of department stores references edit a b uk parliament early day motions by details . edmi.parliament.uk . 2007 11 26 . retrieved 2009 09 02 . a b news today s chronicle department store fenwick set to axe jobs . chroniclelive . 2009 02 03 . retrieved 2009 12 24 . a b about us williams & griffin department store . williegee.com . retrieved 2009 09 02 . the story of griffins of colchester . pre 1963 . pp. 1 3 . check date values in date help building plan of new warehouse culver street colchester . seax essex archives online . retrieved 2009 12 24 . deed of release . seax essex archives online . retrieved 2009 12 24 . notice . essex county standard . february 1 1900 . a b 100 000 plan follows family firms merger . essex county standard . april 26 1963 . advertisements taken out by h. l. griffin & co. . essex county standard . 1900 . building plan of additions to warehouse no location recorded colchester . seax essex archives online . retrieved 2009 12 26 . a b c d e the history of williams & griffin . essex life & countryside magazine . a b c wormell peter . essex farming 1900 2000 . peter wormell . p. 275 . isbn 978 0 9525903 2 3 . a b ireland bill . about kilmannan stud . kilmannan.demon.co.uk . retrieved 2009 09 02 . no more willie gees on the high street . colchester gazette . 19 june 2015 . retrieved 24 september 2016 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title fenwick colchester & oldid 741454081 categories department stores of the united kingdombuildings and structures in colchestercompanies based in colchesterhidden categories cs1 errors datescoordinates not on wikidataofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a 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