British Shoe Corporation's (abbreviated to BSC within the Company and footwear industry) origins began with Freeman Hardy Willis being incorporated as a limited company on the 20 December 1876.  The Company retained that name until 1 June 1967, when the name was changed to B.S.C. Footwear Limited. On the  31 December 1981 the company name changed to British Shoe Corporation Ltd. The Company name changed again on the 5 February 1996 to Saxone Limited and then again on the 3 February 1997 to Footwear Corporation Limited. On the 9 August 2002 the Company name was changed for the last time to Genco (FC) Limited.

BSC had 2,500 shops and had a 20% share of all the footwear sales in the UK, selling 16.5 million shoes per year!

The brands that were under ownership of BSC included:

  • 20/20 Concept shoes  (from 1996) - defunct in 1997
  • Bertie -  now defunct
  • Butler Shoe Corporation (USA company) now defunct
  • Cable & Co -  now defunct
  • Curtess - now defunct but the brand is owned B.S.C. Footwear Limited for a different classification other than shoes 
  • Dolcis - On 13 February 2008 administrators KPMG announced that the brand name Dolcis and 24 of the company's 185 shops had been bought by Stylo Group PLC of Bradford. 800 former Dolcis staff lost their jobs, and the shops were rebranded as Barratts Shoes.
  • Freeman Hardy Willis (Freeman Hardy & Willis) - now operated as a stand alone website only brand, owned by Gardiner Bros & Co (leathers) Ltd
  • Hush Puppies (a USA Company owned by Wolverine World Wide (https://www.wolverineworldwide.com/about-us/history/) and still operating, but owned by Gardiner Bros & Co (leathers) Ltd (https://www.hushpuppies.co.uk/pages/explore). 
  • Lilley & Skinner - still in operation but operated as an in-house brand, owned by Shoe Zone Ltd
  • Manfield - now owned by MNFLD. BV (Manfield) as a website only in the Netherlands: https://www.manfield.com/
  • Orchard -  now defunct
  • Roland Cartier -  now defunct
  • Saxone - owned by B.S.C. Footwear Limited, a new company established in 2017 by a former employee
  • Shoe City -  now defunct
  • Shoe Connection -  now defunct
  • Shoe Express -  now defunct
  • Tip Toe -  now defunct
  • Trueform (True-Form) - now owned as a stand alone brand on a website, owned by D. Jacobson & Sons Limited and licenced to Comfort Shoe Warehouse Limited.

BSC was part of a wider conglomerate called Sears PLC, that has its origins as J Sears Boot Company Limited. Sears PLC had numerous brands that it managed including:

  • Adams Children's Clothing -  now defunct
  • Lewis's - (now owned by T J Hughes and operated as an in-house brand)
  • Freemans Catalogue  - still in operation but owned by another company: Freemans Grattan Holdings Ltd
  • Jowett Cars Limited - now defunct
  • Mappin & Webb (who were Queen Elizabeth II's jewellers) - now owned by Watches of Switzerland Company Limited and trading from a website (ironically, Watches of Switzerland's Registered Office is in Leicester: LE3 1TT -  opposite BSC's former HQ, in Braunstone Frith Industrial Estate and Braunstone suburb - LE3 1UX)
  • Miss Selfridge - now defunct
  • Richard Shops - now defunct
  • Sears Card (Store Card, based in Solihull) - now defunct
  • Selfridges - still in operation but owned by another company: Central Group who acquired Selfridges Group, with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia becoming a minority shareholder in 2024
  • The Selfridge Hotel (London) - still in operation but owned by another company the Thistle Group
  • Wallis -  now defunct
  • Warehouse -  now defunct
  • William Hill Bookmakers - still in operation but owned by a stand alone company: William Hill Global PLC.

 

BSC would not have been possible without the determination, drive and passion of Sir Charles Clore, aka Santa Clore, who was infamous and even mentioned in the UK Westminster Parliament:

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1962/feb/14/private-monopolies

 

However, sadly the Company entered into decline, starting in September 1992, with a company announcement of fall in profits and a host of store closures. More can be seen here about the demise of BSC:

https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/12-february-1998/british-shoe-misses-its-step/

 

For an insight to the companies operations click the below link to BSC's made video in YouTube to explain Computer Aided Design or CAD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lreAg2lRCtQ

https://www.facebook.com/chris.huscroft.5/videos/201342796203064/?idorvanity=166506850086547

https://www.facebook.com/chris.huscroft.5/videos/642524554141071/?idorvanity=166506850086547

https://www.facebook.com/chris.huscroft.5/videos/958287925492087/?idorvanity=166506850086547