Grattan plc
 | |
| Clothing | |
| Industry | Clothing catalogue |
| Founded |
1912[1] as Grattan Stores 1995 as Grattan Plc |
| Founder | John Enrico Fattorini[2] |
| Headquarters | Bradford[3], UK |
Area served | UK, Ireland |
| Products | Clothing |
| Owner | Otto Group |
| Website | http://www.grattan.co.uk/ |
Grattan is a British catalogue clothing retailer based in Bradford, UK with 18 stores and 2 main catalogues and a number of specialty catalogues. Grattan has approximately 2,600 employees.[1]
History
Grattan catalogues was founded in 1912 by John Enrico Fattorini, in Bradford, West Yorkshire after he fell out with his cousin while working at Empire Stores.[4]
The company was purchased by Next plc for 300 million pounds in 1986, a deal which saw Next outbid future Grattan owners Otto Versand. By the 1990s Grattan was the UK's fourth largest catalogue company with 13% of the mail order market.[5]
Grattan was purchased by Otto Versand in 1991 for 165 million pounds.[2] In 2000 its administrative department was merged with Freemans, under the banner of Otto UK.[6]
Grattan's celebrity campaigns have included model, Penny Lancaster-Stewart, TV presenter Nicky Hambleton-Jones.
In May 2009 the company announced plans to cut over 1000 jobs at their bases in Bradford, Sheffield, Peterborough and London in an effort to streamline the company and return the Freemans Grattan Holdings company back to profitability.[7]
In 2012 Grattan announced plans to open a new head office in Bradford as it reaffirmed its commitment to the City.[8]
Sponsorship
The Bradford based catalogue company sponsored Bradford City A.F.C. from 1989 to 1991. From 2006 to 2010, Odsal Stadium in Odsal, West Yorkshire, England, was named Grattan Stadium for sponsorship reasons. The venue is used for Rugby League games and is the home ground of Bradford Bulls.
References
- 1 2 "Otto Group Companies: Grattan". Retrieved 2011-03-13.
- 1 2 Grattan Catalogue History
- ↑ Grattan Corporate Information
- ↑ History of Grattan from the Bradford Telegraph & Argus
- ↑ The history of Grattan
- ↑ "Grattan". Otto. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ↑ BBC report on the job cuts at FGH
- ↑ Grattan new head office opening in Bradford