Moving Ahead
From the collection of
RRS James Clark Ross
- Wallsend
- 1992
Moving Ahead
What does it take to build a competition-beating British brand from scratch? And would these executives recognise it now?
After 100 years operating as a family business, Suites Centre Sunderland was subject to a management buyout in 1993. This allowed them to expand, and they were listed on the London stock exchange in 1997. However, constraints on consumer lending in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis were catastrophic for the company's business model; they fell into administration the same year. Thanks to a buyout by a US private equity company, the stores and jobs at SCS were saved, but over 100 years of British ownership came to an end.
Produced for Share & Sons Ltd., formerly the Sunderland Suite Centre (SCS), this film looks at the history of the company, from its Sunderland origins in the 1970s to its current expansion plans as a national specialist upholster, and at what is being done to make this happen, including a high-profile television advertising campaign featuring BBC television celebrity Judi Spears.
Tags
The North East in Business
Bigger and better is the motto of the North East: businesses build to outstrip European rivals and sporting events are world-class.
After the loss of many crucial industries from the area in the 1980s, the North East began the slow but steady process of rebuilding. Heavy industry was replaced in part by tourism, and overseas manufacturers saw the benefits of operating in the region. However, not all of these developments were long-lived, and the struggle to replace traditional industries with entirely new sources of prosperity continues.
10 videos in this collection
1
RRS James Clark Ross
2
The Power to Deliver
3
Northumberland Challenge
4
Moving Ahead
5
A Stroke of Inspiration
6
Millennium Travellers
7
Part of Sunderland Life
8
The New Red Mall
9
Tyne and Wear Foundation
10