Lewis & Cooper

Lewis & Cooper Ltd

Type	Private limited company
Industry	Groceries
Founded	1899
Founder	George Lewis Binks Cooper
Headquarters	Northallerton, England
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	Dr David Geary (chairman)[1] Victoria Howard, Bettina Bell (joint managing directors)[2]
Products	Christmas puddings • hampers
Total assets	£477, 057 (2011)[3]
Number of employees	85[4]
Website	www.lewisandcooper.co.uk

Lewis & Cooper Ltd is an upmarket delicatessen based in the market town of Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, with a secondary branch located in Yarm.^[5] It was established in 1899 by George Lewis and Binks Barton Cooper, and is still owned and operated by Lewis' direct descendants.^[5]

Since the 1980s, Lewis & Cooper has developed a reputation as the "Fortnum & Mason of the North".^[6] They are known nationwide for their Christmas puddings and hampers, which are sold online, in upmarket retailers including Selfridge's and Harvey Nichols, as well as in store.^[7]

History

The Northallerton store building dates back to the seventeenth century.^[8] In 1899, both George Henry Lewis and Binks Barton Cooper worked as managers at a high street grocery business in Northallerton.^[9] After the owner decided to sell the failing business, Lewis and Cooper executed a management buyout.^[10] The company was incorporated in January 1903. Cooper, a sleeping partner, sold his share of the business in 1914, but the Lewis & Cooper name remained.^[5] The company has sold hampers since 1936.^[11]

In the early 1980s Lewis & Cooper began to reposition itself from a traditional grocers into a specialist upmarket food retailers, after large supermarkets began to erode their core customer base.^[12] In 1999, tea rooms were opened on the first floor of the Northallerton store, in what was formerly the manager's quarters.^[13] That same year, the store was featured on the newly released Yorkshire Monopoly board game.^[14] A smaller store opened in Yarm in 2001. A Harrogate store opened in December 2011, but closed down in January 2013, following disappointing sales figures.^[15]

Operations

Lewis & Cooper carries specialist items not stocked by the major supermarkets, such as Chatka crab, Russian caviar and quail eggs.^[16] The Northallerton store has 32,000 different product lines, versus the supermarket average of 5,000, located across 6,000 square feet.^[16][17] 25 per cent of the Northallerton store's stock is sourced from the Yorkshire area.^[18] Rhiannon Batten of The Independent described the store as "one of the UK's most famous food emporiums."^[19]

References