John Collier was a British chain of shops selling men's clothes. Founded in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in 1907 by Henry Price, the chain expanded to over 399 stores across the country, most of which traded under the Fifty Shilling Tailors brand. In 1953, the company was sold to UDS, which renamed it John Collier. It continued to trade within the UDS empire until 1983 when UDS was sold to

Hanson plc Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London S ...

. In order to recoup the cost of the purchase Hanson sold on a number of UDS assets, including John Collier, for £47.5 million to a management buy-out team. In 1985 the company was sold on to the

Burton Group Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (BH ...

, but the brand was discontinued and no longer exists today. On 17 December 1975, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

visited for the formal opening of the head office extension. The huge complex in Kirkstall Road,

, had two factories, No. 1 factory and No. 2 factory, in Evanston Avenue. This is now occupied by the Cardigan Fields Leisure and Entertainment complex. There were other factories in Westland Road, Leeds; Powlett Road,

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

;

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

and

Peterlee Peterlee is a town in County Durham, England. It lies between Sunderland to the north, Hartlepool to the south, the Durham Coast to the east and Durham to the west. It gained town status in 1948 under the New Towns Act 1946. The act also create ...

. One by one they closed, leaving only Hartlepool and Middlesbrough by the late 1970s. The last factory to remain open was Hartlepool, after the closure of the Middlesbrough factory. The advertising tagline, used in a number of variations over the years, was "John Collier – The Window to Watch".

References

Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom {{UK-retail-company-stub