citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message mackays stores limited industry retailing clothing homeware founded 1834 founder len mcgeoch headquarters inchinnan renfrewshire scotland . head office paddington london england buying office area served uk continental europe and middle east key people len mcgeoch founder and iain mcgeoch ceo revenue 659 million 583.60 million 2005 owner iain mcgeoch 90 % shareholding number of employees 3900 3500 in store 400 split between inchinnan head office & london buying office 1 website www.mandco.com retail and corporate website m & co. previously trading as mackays company name mackays stores limited is a scottish chain store selling women s men s and children s clothes as well as small homeware products . its head office is in inchinnan renfrewshire 2 though its main buying office is in london . 3 4 previously its head office was at caledonia house in paisley . 5 established in 1834 the company has grown to become one of the largest privately owned fashion clothing retailers in britain and has been selling clothing for over 50 years . the chain operates over 300 stores and also has an online presence . history edit m & co shop in wetherby yorkshire 1834 mcgeoch family founds a pawnbroker business in paisley renfrewshire . 1953 under neil mcgeoch the company begins converting pawnshops to clothing stores . 1969 50 stores trading . the first store is opened in london and within a year a chain of seven stores is purchased prompting expansion in the south of england . 1970 company acquires ghinns ltd. extending its retail clothing business in the london area . 1973 len and iain mcgeoch take over company from their father and adopt low priced retail clothing format under mackays name . mid 1970s 100 stores trading . head office and warehouse premises are acquired at caledonia street paisley . 1986 company acquires apparel affiliates inc. owner of 140 retail clothing stores in the united states . mid 1980s 150 stores . mackays becomes one of the first multiple retailers to install full epos tills in all stores allowing the capture of sales data and managing product replenishment . continued growth with 160 stores in operation by 1985 . international ventures are pursued with the purchase of a us company with 120 stores . benetton stores are opened in scotland ireland and australia later all closed . 1990 apparel affiliates is forced to declare bankruptcy and mackays exits the us . 1992 len mcgeoch returns from the united states to resume buying role . 1996 a store in poland is opened . mid 1990s 220 stores trading . a children s franchise is operated in china and more stores open in poland both now closed . 1998 len mcgeoch retires following the success of the brand with iain mcgeoch taking over the family business . 2000 fashion sub brand kylie launches its teen girl website . 2001 iain mcgeoch buys out his brother s share of the company . mackays corporate website is launched . 2003 the laroque store chain in coventry is acquired ; a new upscale clothing format m & co is launched . 2004 ten new m & co. stores open featuring ladieswear . 2005 company begins converting all 270 stores to m & co format . january 2006 240 mackays and 30 m & co. stores operational in britain . february 2006 ladieswear transactional website launched . 2007 most stores now converted to m & co format . first northern ireland store opened in belfast s laharna retail park . mackays moves to larger headquarters from paisley to nearby inchinnan . march 2012 the first of several international franchise stores open beginning with the first of many in dubai at the dubai mall with further uae expansion planned . august 2012 announcement of planned expansion into house of fraser . 2013 more international franchise stores opened including the strand mall bulgaria and valletta malta . info source gale directory of company histories mackays stores group ltd. 6 references edit company history m & co. . retrieved 15 february 2014 . contact us . m & co. retrieved 1 february 2012 . m & co web team caledonia house 5 inchinnan drive inchinnan business park inchinnan renfrew pa4 9af company history m & co. . retrieved 15 february 2014 . m & co. 20 conduit place paddington london w2 1hs . retrieved 15 february 2014 . contact us . mackays stores . archived from the original on 29 april 2005 . retrieved 1 february 2012 . mackays stores ltd caledonia house caledonia street paisley pa3 2jp gale directory of company histories mackays stores group ltd. . gale directory of company histories . answers.com . retrieved 15 february 2014 . external links edit scotland portal companies portal fashion portal m & co. official site mackays archive retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title m % 26co . & oldid 727359150 categories scottish brandsbritish brandscompanies based in renfrewshirecompanies of the united kingdompaisley renfrewshireretail companies of scotlandretail companies of the united kingdomclothing retailers of the united kingdom1834 establishments in scotlandcompanies established in 1834hidden categories use dmy dates from march 2014use british english from march 2014articles needing additional references from february 2014all articles needing additional referencespages using infobox company with unsupported parameters 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 bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages scots edit links this page was last modified on 28 june 2016 at 13 27 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view