Sarah
Hawkins Genealogy Site
Newspaper
Articles
Somerset County Herald and Taunton Courier. Saturday 05 Mar 1960.
Page 6 Column 4 and 5
Taunton Firm's Success Story
The Achievements Of Two Families
Clements & Brown's Sixty Years
MESSRS. Clements & Brown Ltd., the Taunton firm of drapers, is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Recently the store in Fore Street was considerably enlarged by taking in adjoining premises, and new departments and new facilitieis for customers and staff were added, making it one of the most attractive stores of its kind in the West Country.
The present firm had its beginings in 1900, when the drapery business of T. J. MARTIN was acquired by Messrs. S. E. and P. A. CLEMENTS and F. W. PRITCHETT BROWN and opened as Messrs. Clements & Brown Ltd., on the present site. The shop became a town landmark because of its then modern verandah of cast iron and glass, which still exists as a tangible link with the past.
Horses and Travellers
The original buildings, which have long since gone, included a staff hostel where a motherly housekeeper watched over the wellbeing of the young lady assistants.
There were two separate shops, both crammed with goods. The main merchandise was plain cashmere or merino material, at least seven yards of which was needed for a lady's dress – together with a packet of bones for the bodice. Ready-made outerwear was then practically unknown.
Like the shop, the windows were crammed with the greatest possible variety of merchandise, piles of calicoes, at 2¾d a yard, overflowing into the doorways.
At the rear of the retail shops, and opening on to Church Square, were stables, and horses, and the wholesale stock-rooms. From here the firm's travellers went to the surrounding villages and small towns selling to shops which, at that time, were seldom supplied from the large wholesale warehouses.
Start of the Factory
After a few years, with the Clements & Brown trade increasing rapidly, more shopping space was needed. The front premises were completely re-built and the two shops merged into one, with greatly-increaed floor space: the first-floor fashion showroom, which was added, was considered to be very spacious for those days.
Then, early in the First World War, the dressmaking workrooms were reorganised for the manufacture of overalls to meet the urgent national demand.
This was the beginning of the Deane Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary factory, which was under the supervision of the late Mr. Percy CLEMENTS. Again, in the early 1920's, the need for more space became urgent, and a large modern machine shop was built on a potato patch at the rear of the premises.
The Sons Come In
Subsequently, more property was acquired, including the old Post Office in Church Square, which allowed the factory to increse its mechanization and introduce a conveyor system of production. In recent years this has been much further developed, with highly-specialized all-electric machinery, and production oranized on the most modern methods.
In the early 1930's the younger generation of the CLEMENTS and BROWN families came into the businesss after gaining valuable experience in large business houses in London. Mr. David CLEMENTS and Mr. Leslie PRITCHETT BROWN went into the shop, and Mr. Colin CLEMENTS joined the factory.
Adjoining property was bought for new offices and new furnishing and household linen departments. At the same time a new shop front was installed, with arcade windows and a single central entrance, giving scope for modern methods of display.
The Alderman Carried On
Further interior improvements were interrupted by the outbreak of the 1939 War. Then the three younger partners, all members of the Territorial Army, were called to the Forces. Alderman F. W. PRITCHETT BROWN (he had been Mayor of Taunton), who had retired from business, was called back and took over a good deal of extra work in the difficulties of war-time conditions.
The business suffered the sad loss by death of Mr. David CLEMENTS on Army Service, and in 1944 it sustained another blow by the deaht of Mr. Percy CLEMENTS, who had contributed so much to the success of the Company.
In spite of these losses, Alderman PRITCHETT BROWN, although he was nearly 80, continued to control, single-handed, both the retail and the manufacturing business until the return from the Services of Mr. Colin CLEMENTS and Mr. Leslie PRITCHETT BROWN at the end of the war.
After the war, despite many restrictions, the progress of the business continued, culminating with the big extensions last year.
Today the business is in a stronger position than at any time. This is the outcome of the growing support of customers, whose recommendations have been a most valuable asset. It is due also to the loyalty and enthusiasm of the staff, who, through direct contact with customers, have built up immense goodwill.
Bonus and Pensions
It has been the firm's police to encourage a cheerful and contented staff, and seldom have any of them left except because of age or for domestic reasons. The staff have a canteen and rest-room, a bonus system which gives substantial participation in profits, and a pensions scheme.
Many years' experience of selective buying has built up a strong connexion with the specialist manufacturers and merchants. This ensures the highest standard of quality, and, as the result of direct buying, a quick turnover and carefully-controlled overhead costs, the firm can keep its prices down to the lowest level.
Clements & Brown remains an independent family business, giving a real service to the community. Its adaptability to local needs, and, very important, its direct personal control, offer advantages that the branch of a large financial group cannot equal.