Bolton Marks and Spencer through the years

A slogan which transports us back to end of the 19th century and the sales pitch of ambitious businessmen running those eponymous Bazaars.

Michael Marks and Tom Spencer brought their ideas over the Pennines from their origins in Leeds and found another base in Bolton’s Market Hall in 1892.

Mr Marks lived on Great George Street in Wigan in 1891, along with wife Hannah and their children, before his founding meeting with Mr Spencer.

The business moved to Deansgate - landing at number 60 in 1915, then numbers 45 to 49 in 1929 before settling in its present home in 1968.

Now, as the company has closed its historic Bolton town centre store from April 15, we take a look at a sleeve of the rich tapestry of people, stories, charities and culture embedded in one of the nation’s institutions, and all on our doorstep.

“I moved to the Bolton area when I got married to Gwen and…Marks and Spencer in Bolton was always this big store. We were there on a regular basis.”

So says Nigel Pantak, who is Honorary Secretary at Golborne Cricket Club, where his son Thomas George Spencer Pantak is the first XI’s longest-serving captain.

The Bolton store holds a special place in Nigel’s heart as Gwen went into labour there in 1994 in the wine aisle, with other family members in attendance.

Nigel said: “She was two weeks overdue, and this was around 3pm on the Thursday.

“We were told, ‘on the Friday she was going in to be induced’. So we decided what we would do was go along to Marks and pick up a nice meal.

“As we were selecting the meal, I was with Josh, my four-year-old and my mother-in-law was upstairs. I think we were in the wine aisle and I remember Gwen just stopped and went..’Ooh, I think my waters have gone’.

“I looked down and there was this pool of fluid…which…Josh always recalls as [like] somebody having smashed a bottle of wine.

Nigel went upstairs to grab Gwen’s mum Leah, and when they returned Gwen was sat on the chair with staff members, who he recalls were ‘absolutely excellent’.

The store had a ‘collect-by-car’ service at the time, from the top of the building, and Nigel remembers Josh looking a little shellshocked following behind Gwen and his grandmother in the shopping service lift.

The staff dropped this special ‘delivery’ off with Nigel en route to Billinge Maternity Hospital where Thomas arrived around 8pm that evening.

Nigel remembered security guard Mark’s name after all this time and the outfit for Tom that staff presented to the family at the photo opportunity.

Thomas’ brother Josh has another special affinity with the store - the time he met The Lion of Vienna in the Bolton store’s café.

Nigel said: “Josh went over - he was just told ‘that’s a very famous footballer’.”

He got Nat Lofthouse’s autograph and Bolton fan Nigel remembered how humble the great Bolton Wanderers centre-forward was in thanking Joshua for asking.

Marks & Spencer keeps its public archive in Leeds which contains thousands of articles, images, tributes and memories captured in time via in-house staff magazines.

Among their pages and pictures - some frozen in time - are hundreds of references to the Bolton store, the staff and their place at the heart of the community.

Bolton steelmakers John Booth and Sons made the framework for the 1960s building, with 40,500 square feet of sales space, so the town is at the heart of the store too.

We saw the appearance of Kearsley Youth Brass Band within the company’s 2022 Christmas TV ad campaign.

And who can forget the donation made by the firm around its centenary of trading in Bolton to provide a sheltered canopy on Newport Street for local charities to put up a stall or hold an event

There are Christmas shop windows which piloted children indoors in a dreamlike trance, numerous charity events and donations being made to Bolton’s hospitals, local children’s charities and Children in Need.

Andrea McCann, Clinical Sister and Unit Manager for Breast Services at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Marks and Spencer have given us many mastectomy post-op bras over the years, and throughout Covid they provided us with softies out of their charitable funds.

"The support came during a really challenging period when were still delivering care to patients during the Coronavirus pandemic and facing national supply issues. We reached out to M&S and they brought us some bras and softies. It made a huge difference to our ladies, especially for those who were unable afford and access new bras.”

Annette Trengove, Junior Sister and Deputy Unit Manager at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Their support goes back years. Before Covid they made a special delivery to us with post mastectomy bras and post recovery bras for the unit. We were able to hand out all those bras to women which made a huge difference to how they felt and improved their body confidence aftersurgery.”

But by far the most striking feature of the in-house magazines - we’ve flicked through ‘On Your Marks’ and ‘St. Michael News’- is the list of members of staff who feature in the long-service records of the company.

Ten, 25 and 40 years at the company are marked off alongside letters of praise and commendation from Bolton customers.

A 1981 edition features a story about a Bolton store maintenance foreman celebrating 50 years service, pictured alongside his son and 300 guests and yes, you’ve guessed it - holding a carriage clock.

Looking through at least five decades of company magazines, we counted at least 30 members of the Bolton staff recognised for 25-years of service, two with a least 40 years and one half-centurion of a career with Marks & Spencer.

One edition of the 1970s Sparks magazine thought at the time that the Bolton store held the record of the highest number of staff to reach a quarter of a century with the company.

Retirees then were given a send off with a mention in the Gold Watch Club section of the magazine and there were also kind tributes left to staff who had passed away.

There are dozens of letters of praise from the public for customer service from Bolton staff recorded in the pages of these publications demonstrating their pride in being part of a national institution.

There’s plenty of funny lines and stories in the postbag from Bolton customers too.

Our favourite is suspicion over the return to the food store of a packet of frozen fish fingers - from a Mr. Fish of Chip Hill Road!

Bolton staff are mentioned in various company events, away days and contests, with one lucky winner of a 1957 lingerie design competition travelling to London to see her winning effort transformed into a product for sale in nationwide stores.

The relationship between the store employees and the public is reflected in the various fundraising events which have taken place over the years too.

And staff have been on hand to help with customers - and not just with their shopping.

In 2001 for a two-year-old who had lost a cuddly life long friend which could not be replaced.

Marks and Spencers and the people of Bolton over the the years

Here are just some of the published highlights of the archived history of Bolton Marks & Spencer staff’s happy, friendly and loyal relationship with each other, the people and town - and reproduced from their staff magazines found in the company’s digital archives.

October 2001 - Two-year-old George Hawkrigg was invited into the store to receive a specially made duplicate of an out of stock teddy bear to replace his own, which had been lost. One staff member, Sue West, had previously offered the tot a model of it which she had. Marks & Spencer applied to the manufacturer who made up the bear.

April 1999 - Four staff shone a light on the loyalty at the store, as they tallied 100 years of service between them. Maureen Orrell, Jean Brooks, Barbara McLoughlin and Barbara Frith celebrated in store - having all retired at the same time.

May 1992 - Marks & Spencer celebrated a hundred years of trading in the town. Some staff took a trip down memory lane by wearing the uniform from the past. Best dressed was Ruth Knowles in her replica of one of the Penny Bazaar style of uniform. Breath of Life - an asthma charity - was the beneficiary of £5,000 in total donations.

May 1991 - £3,000 handed over to Bolton General Hospital - in the form of the standard, oversized cheque - to help fund the purchase of a ventilator for their Young Children’s Unit. The money had been raised via ‘Spot the Ball’, ten pin bowling and raffles.

July/August 1990 - The Queen Mother sent a set of silver knives in reply to a staff letter

drumming up support for a raffle contribution. The store spent six months raising funds for Bolton General Hospital which was building a children’s dependency unit.

May 1967 - Bolton Evening News, Drapery and Fashion Weekly cover the opening of the new Deansgate store.

July 1956 - Littlewoods’ store manager wrote a letter to AA Brown, the Marks & Spencer branch manager at Bolton…”I should like to express both the company’s and my own personal thanks for the very prompt assistance given by your senior staff last night in dealing with the outbreak of fire at the front of the store.”