The Carradice Story: "As British as the Union Jack" – Carradice saddlebags history, classiclightweights.co.uk, by Steve Griffith: "Carradice had a number of rivals in the cycle bag market. These included ... Dunlop ... and after WW2 Karrimor who originally were in nearby Rawtenstall. Karrimor branched out into walking and climbing equipment and were in the mid-1970s the first to market a nylon saddlebag [Cycletouring CTC Magazine April 1972 pp 90/91]. In the 1980s they [Karrimor] converted their entire range over to nylon."
Parson's accident is stated to have happened "8 years after" the 1931 founding of his Waterfoot shop (1939) and led to blindness "12 years later" (1943) – Bowen, David (18 August 1996). "British manufacturing: the best thing since sliced bread". The Independent. London. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
Shoe repair shop is a sole survivor – Lancashire Telegraph 2003-03-17, and Karrimor Ltd website Contact UsArchived 5 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine: Karrimor offer a repair and servicing for items no longer covered [emph. added] by our guarantee or requiring repair from accidental damage. This is a chargeable service and is operated on Karrimor's behalf by Karrimor's nominated and approved agent, Lancashire Sports Repairs www.lancashiresportsrepairs.co.uk (as at August 2013)
Karrimor jobs go as firm is sold – Lancashire Telegraph 24 February 2004: [The receivers] said Karrimor had suffered from declining sales and its South African parent company was unwilling to make any further investment in the business, and also states: Karrimor was bought in 1999 by South African leisure group Cullinan Holdings which immediately cut manufacturing with the loss of 80 jobs.
Last ditch bid to save jobs – Lancashire Telegraph 27 February 1999: The new owners have so far not issued any comment on the situation. Workers are still furious over the way the announcement was handled. "On the Wednesday the employees were told their jobs were safe and the day after they told them there would be job losses. We want to know how on earth that can happen," said one.
Boss steps in to save jobs – Lancashire Telegraph 13 March 1999. The "Boss" in the article was Graham Lord of Trubend Manufacturing Ltd, via a short-lived separate company called The Fleece Factory Ltd (April 1999 – 2001): A businessman has stepped in to help save more than 30 jobs of axed staff at outdoor clothing firm Karrimor... Two weeks ago the company announced up to 80 job losses... after it decided to stop manufacturing to cut costs... Graham Lord, of Trubend Manufacturing, Bacup, a firm which already supplies Karrimor, has stepped in to keep production of the fleece garments in East Lancashire... Mr Lord is now looking for suitable premises for the new venture which will be a separate company to his existing firm. (See also company report on The Fleece Factory Ltd)
Shoe repair shop is a sole survivor – Lancashire Telegraph 2003-03-17, and Karrimor Ltd website Contact UsArchived 5 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine: Karrimor offer a repair and servicing for items no longer covered [emph. added] by our guarantee or requiring repair from accidental damage. This is a chargeable service and is operated on Karrimor's behalf by Karrimor's nominated and approved agent, Lancashire Sports Repairs www.lancashiresportsrepairs.co.uk (as at August 2013)
Boss steps in to save jobs – Lancashire Telegraph 13 March 1999. The "Boss" in the article was Graham Lord of Trubend Manufacturing Ltd, via a short-lived separate company called The Fleece Factory Ltd (April 1999 – 2001): A businessman has stepped in to help save more than 30 jobs of axed staff at outdoor clothing firm Karrimor... Two weeks ago the company announced up to 80 job losses... after it decided to stop manufacturing to cut costs... Graham Lord, of Trubend Manufacturing, Bacup, a firm which already supplies Karrimor, has stepped in to keep production of the fleece garments in East Lancashire... Mr Lord is now looking for suitable premises for the new venture which will be a separate company to his existing firm. (See also company report on The Fleece Factory Ltd)
Keeping it in the family – The Engineer magazine, 12 April 2001 [some figures incorrect in source article and are struck out]: After 72 years in the family, Karrimor ran into problems and brought in outside investors ... By 1996 Karrimor employed 320 people and had a turnover of £20m... "[W]e made two acquisitions that went wrong, and we were caught in a desperate situation. So we found some backers (21 Invest), and they continued with the company, but it didn't work satisfactorily" ... Parsons and 21 Invest disagreed over the future direction of the company, with the venture capitalists attempting to turn its products into a fashion range, and in early 1998 Parsons was forced out. "We had very severe problems at the end. But there were no successors and we had already taken venture capital in, so once you've done that you're one step closer to selling the business anyway".
Shoe repair shop is a sole survivor – Lancashire Telegraph 2003-03-17, and Karrimor Ltd website Contact UsArchived 5 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine: Karrimor offer a repair and servicing for items no longer covered [emph. added] by our guarantee or requiring repair from accidental damage. This is a chargeable service and is operated on Karrimor's behalf by Karrimor's nominated and approved agent, Lancashire Sports Repairs www.lancashiresportsrepairs.co.uk (as at August 2013)
