1.
Swindon
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Swindon is a large town in Wiltshire, South West England, midway between Bristol,35 miles to the west and Reading,35 miles to the east. London is 78 miles to the east, and Cardiff is 78 miles to the west, at the 2011 census, it had a population of 185,609. Swindon became an Expanded Town under the Town Development Act 1952, Swindon railway station is on the line from London Paddington to Bristol. Swindon Borough Council is an authority, independent of Wiltshire Council since 1997. Residents of Swindon are known as Swindonians, the town and wider borough also has the headquarters of the Nationwide Building Society and a Honda car manufacturing plant. The original Anglo-Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, believed to be derived from the Old English words swine and dun meaning pig hill or possibly Sweyns hill, Swindon was a small market town, mainly for barter trade, until roughly 1848. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, the Industrial Revolution was responsible for an acceleration of Swindons growth. It started with the construction of the Wilts and Berks Canal in 1810, the canals brought trade to the area and Swindons population started to grow. Between 1841 and 1842, Isambard Kingdom Brunels Swindon Works was built for the repair, the GWR built a small railway village to house some of its workers. The Steam Railway Museum and English Heritage, including the English Heritage Archive, in 1878 the fund began providing artificial limbs made by craftsmen from the carriage and wagon works, and nine years later opened its first dental surgery. In his first few months in post the dentist extracted more than 2000 teeth, from the opening in 1892 of the Health Centre, a doctor could also prescribe a haircut or even a bath. The cradle-to-grave extent of service was later used as a blueprint for the NHS. The Mechanics Institute, formed in 1844, moved into a building looking rather like a church and included a covered market, on 1 May 1855. The New Swindon Improvement Company, a co-operative, raised the funds for this path self-improvement and it was a groundbreaking organisation that transformed the railways workforce into some of the countrys best-educated manual workers. It had the UKs first lending library, and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre, the Institute also nurtured pioneering trades unionists and encouraged local democracy. During the second half of the 19th century, Swindon New Town grew around the line between London and Bristol. In 1900, the market town, Old Swindon, merged with its new neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single town
2.
Public limited company
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A public limited company is a type of public company under the United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a liability company whose shares may be freely sold and traded to the public, with a minimum share capital of £50,000. Similar companies in the United States are called publicly traded companies, public limited companies will also have a separate legal identity. A PLC can be either an unlisted or listed company on the stock exchanges, in the United Kingdom, a public limited company usually must include the words public limited company or the abbreviation PLC or plc at the end and as part of the legal company name. Welsh companies may choose to end their names with ccc. However, some public limited companies incorporated under special legislation are exempted from bearing any of the identifying suffixes. The term public limited company and the PLC/plc suffix were introduced in 1981, prior to this, all limited companies bore the suffix Limited, which is still used by private limited companies. When a new company incorporates in England and Wales or in Scotland, it must register with Companies House, Formation of a public limited company requires a minimum of one director and one secretary. In England and Wales and in Scotland, the male/female is under 16 years old, some people who are not British citizens are restricted as to what work they may do while in the UK, which may exclude them from being a director. The members must agree to some, or all, of the shares when the company is registered. The memorandum of association must show the names of the people who have agreed to take shares and these people are called the subscribers. There is a share capital for public limited companies, Before it can start business. A quarter of them, £12,500, must be paid up, each allotted share must be paid up to at least one quarter of its nominal value together with the whole of any premium. A company can increase its share capital by passing an ordinary resolution. A copy of the resolution – and notice of the increase on Form 123 – must reach Companies House within 15 days of being passed, no fee is payable to Companies House. A company can decrease its authorised share capital by passing a resolution to cancel shares which have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person. Notice of the cancellation, on Form 122, must reach Companies House within one month, no fee is payable to Companies House. A company may have as different types of shares as it wishes
3.
Ticker symbol
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A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. A stock symbol may consist of letters, numbers or a combination of both, ticker symbol refers to the symbols that were printed on the ticker tape of a ticker tape machine. Stock symbols are unique identifiers assigned to each security traded on a particular market, for example, AAPL is for Apple Inc. OODH is for Orion DHC, Inc. and HD is for Home Depot, a stock symbol can consist of letters, numbers, or a combination of both, and is a way to uniquely identify that stock. The symbols were kept as short as possible to reduce the number of characters that had to be printed on the ticker tape, the allocation of symbols and formatting convention is specific to each stock exchange. In the US, for example, stock tickers are typically between 1 and 4 letters and represent the name where possible. In Europe, most exchanges use three-letter codes, for example Dutch consumer goods company Unilever traded on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange has the symbol UNA, while in Asia, numbers are often used as stock tickers to avoid issues for international investors when using non-Latin scripts. For example, the bank HSBCs stock traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has the ticker symbol 0005, symbols sometimes change to reflect mergers. Prior to the 1999 merger with Mobil Oil, Exxon used a spelling of the company XON as its ticker symbol. The symbol of the firm after the merger was XOM, symbols are sometimes reused, in the US the single-letter symbols are particularly sought after as vanity symbols. For example, since Mar 2008 Visa Inc. has used the symbol V that had previously used by Vivendi which had delisted. To fully qualify a stock, both the ticker and the exchange or country of listing needs to be known, on many systems both must be specified to uniquely identify the security. This is often done by appending the location or exchange code to the ticker, although stock tickers identify a security, they are exchange dependent, generally limited to stocks and can change. These limitations have led to the development of other codes in financial markets to identify securities for settlement purposes, the most prevalent of these is the International Securities Identifying Number. An ISIN uniquely identifies a security and its structure is defined in ISO6166, Securities for which ISINs are issued include bonds, commercial paper, stocks, and warrants. The ISIN identifies the security, not the exchange on which it trades, for instance, Daimler AG stock trades on twenty-two different stock exchanges worldwide, and is priced in five different currencies, it has the same ISIN on each, though not the same ticker symbol. ISIN cannot specify a particular trade in this case, and another identifier, following the introduction of the Sequence trading platform in 1996, EPICs were renamed Tradable Instrument Display Mnemonics, but they are still widely referred to as EPICs. Stocks can also be identified using their SEDOL number or their ISIN, in the United States, modern letter-only ticker symbols were developed by Standard & Poors to bring a national standard to investing
4.
London Stock Exchange
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The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London in the United Kingdom. As of December 2014, the Exchange had a capitalisation of US$6.06 trillion. The Exchange was founded in 1801 and its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pauls Cathedral in the City of London, the Exchange is part of the London Stock Exchange Group. London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s oldest stock exchanges, London Stock Exchange Group was created in October 2007 when London Stock Exchange merged with Milan Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana. The Royal Exchange had been founded by English financier Thomas Gresham on the model of the Antwerp Bourse and it was opened by Elizabeth I of England in 1571. During the 17th century, stockbrokers were not allowed in the Royal Exchange due to their rude manners and they had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity, notably Jonathans Coffee-House. At that coffee house, a broker named John Casting started listing the prices of a few commodities, exchange rates and certain key provisions such as salt, coal, originally, this was not a daily list and was only published a few days of the week. This list and activity was moved to Garraway’s coffee house. Public auctions during this period were conducted for the duration that a length of tallow candle could burn, as stocks grew, with new companies joining to raise capital, the royal court also raised some monies. These are the earliest evidence of organised trading in securities in London. After Greshams Royal Exchange building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, it was rebuilt and this was a move away from coffee houses and a step towards the modern model of stock exchange. The Royal Exchange not only housed brokers but also merchants and merchandise and this was the birth of a regulated stock market, which had teething problems in the shape of unlicensed brokers. In order to regulate these, Parliament brought out an act in 1697 that levied heavy penalties and it also set a fixed number of brokers, which was later increased as the size of the trade grew. The street in which they were now dealing was known as Exchange Alley, Parliament tried to regulate this and ban the unofficial traders from the Change streets. Traders became weary of bubbles when companies rose quickly and fell, after the Seven Years War, trade at Jonathans coffee house boomed again. In 1773, Jonathan, together with 150 other brokers, formed a club and opened a new and this now had a set entrance fee, through which traders could enter the stock room and trade securities. It was, however, not a location for trading. Fraud was also rife during these times and in order to such dealings
5.
Retail
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Retail markets and shops have a very ancient history, dating back to antiquity. Retailing involves the process of selling goods or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retailers satisfy demand is identified through a supply chain, Once the strategic retail plan is in place, retailers devise the retail mix which includes product, price, place, promotion, personnel and presentation. In the digital age, a number of retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple channels. Digital technologies are changing the way that consumers pay for goods. Retailing support services may include the provision of credit, delivery services. Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products, sometimes this is done to obtain final goods, including necessities such as food and clothing, sometimes it takes place as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping and browsing, it not always result in a purchase. Retail shops occur in a range of types and in many different contexts - from strip shopping centres in residential streets through to large. Shopping streets may restrict traffic to pedestrians only, forms of non-shop retailing include online retailing and mail order. Retail comes from the Old French word tailler, which means to cut off, clip, pare and it was first recorded as a noun with the meaning of a sale in small quantities in 1433. Like in French, the retail in both Dutch and German also refers to the sale of small quantities of items. Also see History of merchants, History of the market place, open air, public markets were known in ancient Babylonia and Assyria. These markets typically occupied a place in the towns centre, surrounding the market, skilled artisans, such as metal-workers and leather workers, occupied premises in alley ways that led to the open market-place. These artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, in ancient Greece markets operated within the agora, and in ancient Rome the forum. In antiquity, exchange involved direct selling, merchants or peddlers, the Phoenicians, noted for their seafaring skills, plied their ships across the Mediterranean, becoming a major trading power by 9th century BCE. The Phoenicians imported and exported wood, textiles, glass and produce such as wine, oil, dried fruit, the Phoenicians extensive trade networks necessitated considerable book-keeping and correspondence. In around 1500 BCE, the Phoenicians developed an alphabet which was much easier to learn that the complex scripts used in ancient Egypt
6.
Chairman
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The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, a committee, or a deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chair presides over meetings of the group and conducts its business in an orderly fashion. When the group is not in session, the officers duties include acting as its head, its representative to the outside world. In some organizations, this position is called president, in others, where a board appoints a president. Other terms sometimes used for the office and its holder include chair, chairperson, chairwoman, presiding officer, president, moderator, facilitator, the chairman of a parliamentary chamber is often called the speaker. The term chair is used in lieu of chairman, in response to criticisms that using chairman is sexist. In his 1992 State of the Union address, then-U. S, president George H. W. Bush used chairman for men and chair for women. A1994 Canadian study found the Toronto Star newspaper referring to most presiding men as chairman, the Chronicle of Higher Education uses chairman for men and chairperson for women. An analysis of the British National Corpus found chairman used 1,142 times, chairperson 130 times, the National Association of Parliamentarians does not approve using chairperson. In World Schools Style debating, male chairs are called Mr. Chairman, the FranklinCovey Style Guide for Business and Technical Communication, as well as the American Psychological Association style guide, advocate using chair or chairperson, rather than chairman. The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style suggests that the forms are gaining ground. It advocates using chair to refer both to men and to women, the word chair can refer to the place from which the holder of the office presides, whether on a chair, at a lectern, or elsewhere. During meetings, the person presiding is said to be in the chair and is referred to as the chair. Major dictionaries state that the word derives from chair and man, some authorities, however, including Riddicks Rules of Procedure, suggest that the second part of chairman derives from the Latin manus, and thus claim gender-neutrality for the word. Vladimir Lenin, for example, officially functioned as the head of Soviet Russia not as tsar or as president, note in particular the popular standard method for referring to Mao Zedong, Chairman Mao. In the absence of the chairman and vice chairman, groups sometimes elect a chairman pro tempore to fill the role for a single meeting. In some organizations that have titles, deputy chairman ranks higher than vice chairman, as there are often multiple vice chairs
7.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
8.
Earnings before interest and taxes
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In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes, is a measure of a firms profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, when a firm does not have non-operating income, then operating income is sometimes used as a synonym for EBIT and operating profit. To calculate EBIT, expenses are subtracted from revenues, net income is later obtained by subtracting interest and taxes from the result
9.
Net income
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In business, net income is an entitys income minus cost of goods sold, expenses and taxes for an accounting period. In the context of the presentation of financial statements, the IFRS Foundation defines net income as synonymous with profit, net income is a distinct accounting concept from profit but the same as net profit. Net income can also be calculated by adding a companys operating income to non-operating income, net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings. As profit and earnings are used synonymously for income, net earnings, often, the term income is substituted for net income, yet this is not preferred due to the possible ambiguity. Net income is called the bottom line because it is typically found on the last line of a companys income statement. The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense, likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense. For a merchandising company, subtracted costs may be the cost of goods sold, sales discounts, for a product company advertising, manufacturing, and design and development costs are included
10.
Wiltshire
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Wiltshire is a county in South West England with an area of 3,485 km2. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, the county town was originally Wilton, after which the county is named, but Wiltshire Council is now based in the new county town of Trowbridge. Wiltshire is characterised by its high downland and wide valleys, Salisbury Plain is noted for being the location of the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles and other ancient landmarks, and as a training area for the British Army. The city of Salisbury is notable for its mediaeval cathedral, important country houses open to the public include Longleat, near Warminster, and the National Trusts Stourhead, near Mere. The county, in the 9th century written as Wiltunscir, later Wiltonshire, is named after the county town of Wilton. Wiltshire is notable for its pre-Roman archaeology, the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age people that occupied southern Britain built settlements on the hills and downland that cover Wiltshire. Stonehenge and Avebury are perhaps the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK, in the 6th and 7th centuries Wiltshire was at the western edge of Saxon Britain, as Cranborne Chase and the Somerset Levels prevented the advance to the west. The Battle of Bedwyn was fought in 675 between Escuin, a West Saxon nobleman who had seized the throne of Queen Saxburga, in 878 the Danes invaded the county. Following the Norman Conquest, large areas of the country came into the possession of the crown, at the time of the Domesday Survey the industry of Wiltshire was largely agricultural,390 mills are mentioned, and vineyards at Tollard and Lacock. In the 17th century English Civil War Wiltshire was largely Parliamentarian, the Battle of Roundway Down, a Royalist victory, was fought near Devizes. The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry currently lives on as Y Squadron, based in Swindon, around 1800 the Kennet and Avon Canal was built through Wiltshire, providing a route for transporting cargoes from Bristol to London until the development of the Great Western Railway. Information on the 261 civil parishes of Wiltshire is available on the Wiltshire Community History website, run by the Libraries and this site includes maps, demographic data, historic and modern pictures and short histories. The local nickname for Wiltshire natives is moonrakers and this originated from a story of smugglers who managed to foil the local Excise men by hiding their alcohol, possibly French brandy in barrels or kegs, in a village pond. The officials took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, many villages claim the tale for their own village pond, but the story is most commonly linked with The Crammer in Devizes. Two-thirds of Wiltshire, a rural county, lies on chalk. This chalk is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group, the largest area of chalk in Wiltshire is Salisbury Plain, which is used mainly for arable agriculture and by the British Army as training ranges. The highest point in the county is the Tan Hill–Milk Hill ridge in the Pewsey Vale, just to the north of Salisbury Plain, the chalk uplands run northeast into West Berkshire in the Marlborough Downs ridge, and southwest into Dorset as Cranborne Chase. Cranborne Chase, which straddles the border, has, like Salisbury Plain, yielded much Stone Age, the Marlborough Downs are part of the North Wessex Downs AONB, a 1,730 km2 conservation area
11.
High Street
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High Street is a metonym for the concept of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations. To distinguish it from centres of nearby places it is frequently preceded unofficially by the name of its settlement, in a town it implies the focal point for business, especially shops and street stalls in town and city centres. The equivalent in the United States and some parts of Canada, as well as some Northern English, the smallest High Street in Britain is located in a small market town in Devon called Holsworthy. The street itself is no more than 100 yards long and there are three shops located on Holsworthys High Street. High Street is the most common name in the UK. Already in Middle English the word denoted a metaphorical meaning of excellence or superior rank. High also applied to roads as they improved, highway was a new term taken up by the church, High Street gradually adopted a narrower meaning to describe thoroughfares with significant retail in large villages and towns. In the United Kingdom geographic concentration of goods and services has reduced the share of the economy contributed to by workers in the high street, High street refers to only a part of commerce. The town centre in many British towns combines a group of outdoor shopping streets, the continued vitality of towns is predicated on a number of different variables. The way that consumers perceive and use town centres has also fundamentally changed, in order to address the issues threatening the sustainability of towns it is increasingly important to consider consumer behaviour and customer experience. High Streets are less seen in Ireland. Neither of Dublins two main shopping streets carry this name, nor does its main thoroughfare, while Dublin has a High Street near Christchurch, it is not a shopping street. The city of Corks main shopping street is St. Patricks Street, Limericks, Main Street is used in many smaller towns and villages. For example, the OSI North Leinster Town Maps book lists sixteen Main Streets, similarly, the OSI Dublin Street Guide lists twenty Main Streets and only two High Streets. Killarney and Galway are two of the few large Irish towns in which the streets are named High Street. Nonetheless, the high street is often used in the Irish media to refer generically to shopping streets. The phrase High Street banks is used to refer to the banking sector in the United Kingdom. The equivalent in the United States, sometimes in Canada and Ireland is Main Street, in Jamaica, North East England and some sections of Canada and the United States, the main commercial district is Front Street
12.
Retail chain
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Chain store or retail chain are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. In retail, dining, and many categories, chain businesses have come to dominate the market in many parts of the world. A franchise retail establishment is one form of chain store, in 2004, the worlds largest retail chain, Wal-Mart, became the worlds largest corporation based on gross sales. In the U. S. chain stores began with the founding of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in 1859, by the early 1920s, the U. S. boasted three national chains, A&P, Woolworths, and United Cigar Stores. By the 1930s, chain stores had come of age, court decisions against the chains price-cutting appeared as early as 1906, and laws against chain stores began in the 1920s, along with legal countermeasures by chain-store groups. A restaurant chain is a set of related restaurants in different locations that are either under shared corporate ownership or franchising agreements. Typically, the restaurants within a chain are built to a standard format through architectural prototype development, fast food restaurants are the most common, but sit-down restaurant chains also exist. Restaurant chains are found near highways, shopping malls and tourist areas. The displacement of independent businesses by chains has sparked increased collaboration among independent businesses and communities to prevent chain proliferation and these efforts include community-based organizing through Independent Business Alliances and buy local campaigns. In the U. S. trade organizations such as the American Booksellers Association and American Specialty Toy Retailers do national promotion and they dont exclude the chain itself, only the standardized formula the chain uses. The reason these towns regulate chain stores is to protect independent businesses from competition, restaurant Organizational Forms and Community in the US in 2005. Store Wars, The Enactment and Repeal of Anti‐Chain‐Store Legislation in America, American Journal of Sociology 110#2, 446-487. Lebhar, Godfrey Montague, and W. C, matsunaga, Louella. The changing face of Japanese retail, Working in a chain store. Newman, Benjamin J. and John V. Kane, backlash against the Big Box, Local Small Business and Public Opinion toward Business Corporations. The Chain Store in the United States and Canada, American Economic Review 27#1, pp. 87-95 in JSTOR Schragger, the Anti-Chain Store Movement, Localist Ideology, and the Remnants of the Progressive Constitution, 1920-1940. The anti-chain store movement and the politics of consumption, culture of restraint, the British chain store 1920–39. Commercial Cultures, Economies, Practices, Spaces 31
13.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
14.
History of rail transport in Great Britain
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This article is part of the history of rail transport by country series. The railway system of Great Britain, the territory of the United Kingdom, is the oldest in the world. The system was built as a patchwork of local rail links operated by small private railway companies. These isolated links developed during the boom of the 1840s into a national network. Over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, these amalgamated or were bought by competitors until only a handful of companies remained. The entire network was brought under government control during the First World War, however, the government resisted calls for the nationalisation of the network. The Big Four were joint-stock public companies and they continued to run the system until 31 December 1947. From the start of 1948, the big four were nationalised to form British Railways, though there were few initial changes to the service, usage increased and the network became profitable. Declining passenger numbers and financial losses in the late 1950s and early 1960s prompted the closure of branch and main lines. Passenger services experienced a renaissance with the introduction of high-speed inter-city trains in the 1970s, the 1980s saw severe cuts in rail subsidies and above-inflation increases in fares and the service became more cost-effective. Railway operations were privatised during 1994-1997, ownership of the track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack, whilst passenger operations were franchised to individual private sector operators and the freight services sold outright. Since privatisation, passenger levels have increased to their highest ever level. The Hatfield accident set in motion the series of events resulted in the ultimate collapse of Railtrack and its replacement with Network Rail. Although the idea of wooden-railed wagonways originated in Germany in the 16th century and its earliest railways were straight and were constructed from parallel rails of timber on which ran horse-drawn carts. These were succeeded in 1793 when Benjamin Outram constructed a tramway with L-shaped cast iron rails. These rails became obsolete when William Jessop began to manufacture cast iron rails without guiding ledges - the wheels of the carts had flanges instead, cast iron is brittle and so the rails tended to break easily. Consequently, in 1820, John Birkenshaw introduced a method of rolling wrought iron rails, the first passenger-carrying public railway was opened by the Oystermouth Railway in 1807, using horse-drawn carriages on an existing tramline. In 1804, Richard Trevithick designed and built the first steam locomotive to run on smooth rails, the first commercially successful steam locomotive was Salamanca, built in 1812 by John Blenkinsop and Matthew Murray for the 4 ft gauge Middleton Railway
15.
Train station
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A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight. It generally consists of at least one platform and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales. If a station is on a line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as stops or, in parts of the world. Stations may be at level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other modes such as buses. In British usage, the station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified. In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station, Railway station and railroad station are less frequent. Outside North America, a depot is place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained and from which they are dispatched for service. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore, Maryland, which survives as a museum, first saw service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore. The oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, built in 1830, as the first train on the Liverpool-Manchester line left Liverpool, the station is slightly older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed, the station was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal, the first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, manchesters Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses, dual-purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, such stations were known as flag stops or flag stations. Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the architecture of the time. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th-century styles, various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles
16.
Euston railway station
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Euston railway station is a central London railway terminus located on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus of the West Coast Main Line to Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh. The line is the busiest intercity passenger route in Britain and the gateway from London to the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales. The main line station is connected to Euston tube station and is near to Euston Square tube station on the London Underground and it is one of 19 stations in the country that are managed by Network Rail. Euston is the sixth-busiest station in Britain, virgin Trains provides high-speed intercity services, London Midland also operates local commuter and regional services as well as long-distance services. Euston is also the terminus of the suburban Watford DC Line operated by London Overground. It was the first intercity railway station to be built in London, as the terminus of the London, the original 1837 station was demolished and rebuilt in the 1960s. Euston is proposed to be the London terminus of the future High Speed 2 route and it is a short walk from Kings Cross, the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line, and St Pancras for Midland Main Line and Eurostar services. These stations and Euston are all in Travelcard Zone 1, Euston was the first intercity railway station in London, opened on 20 July 1837 as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway. The building was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with the present building in the modern style. The site was chosen in the early 1830s by George and Robert Stephenson, the area was mostly farmland at the edge of the expanding city. The station was named after Euston Hall in Suffolk, the home of the Dukes of Grafton. Objections by local farmers meant that, when the Act authorising construction of the line was passed in 1833 and these objections were overcome, and in 1835 an Act authorised construction of the station, which then went ahead. It was designed by the classically trained architect Philip Hardwick with a 200 ft -long trainshed by structural engineer Charles Fox and it had two platforms, one for departures and one for arrivals. Also by Hardwick was a 72 ft -high Doric propylaeum, the largest ever built, erected at the entrance as a portico, the station grew rapidly as traffic increased. It was greatly expanded with the opening in 1849 of the Great Hall and it was 126 ft long,61 ft wide and 64 ft high, with a coffered ceiling and a sweeping double flight of stairs leading to offices at its northern end. Architectural sculptor John Thomas contributed eight allegorical statues representing the cities served by the line. The station stood on Drummond Street, further back from Euston Road than the front of the complex, Drummond Street now terminates at the side of the station
17.
Birmingham
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Birmingham is a major city and metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England lying on the River Rea, a small river that runs through Birmingham. It is the largest and most populous British city outside London, the city is in the West Midlands Built-up Area, the third most populous urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2,440,986 at the 2011 census. Birminghams metropolitan area is the second most populous in the UK with a population of 3.8 million and this also makes Birmingham the 8th most populous metropolitan area in Europe. By 1791 it was being hailed as the first manufacturing town in the world, perhaps the most important invention in British history, the industrial steam engine, was invented in Birmingham. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1943, Birmingham was bombed heavily by the German Luftwaffe in what is known as the Birmingham Blitz. The damage done to the infrastructure, in addition to a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners, led to extensive demolition. Today Birminghams economy is dominated by the service sector and its metropolitan economy is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $121. 1bn, and its six universities make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London. Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors, Birminghams sporting heritage can be felt worldwide, with the concept of the Football League and lawn tennis both originating from the city. Its most successful football club Aston Villa has won seven league titles, people from Birmingham are called Brummies, a term derived from the citys nickname of Brum. This originates from the citys name, Brummagem, which may in turn have been derived from one of the citys earlier names. There is a distinctive Brummie accent and dialect, Birminghams early history is that of a remote and marginal area. The main centres of population, power and wealth in the pre-industrial English Midlands lay in the fertile and accessible river valleys of the Trent, the Severn and the Avon. The area of modern Birmingham lay in between, on the upland Birmingham Plateau and within the wooded and sparsely populated Forest of Arden. Birmingham as a settlement dates from the Anglo-Saxon era, within a century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a position it would retain for the next 200 years, by 1700 Birminghams population had increased fifteenfold and the town was the fifth-largest in England and Wales. The importance of the manufacture of goods to Birminghams economy was recognised as early as 1538. Equally significant was the emerging role as a centre for the iron merchants who organised finance, supplied raw materials. The 18th century saw this tradition of free-thinking and collaboration blossom into the phenomenon now known as the Midlands Enlightenment
18.
Manchester
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Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 514,414 as of 2013. It lies within the United Kingdoms second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million, Manchester is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council and it was historically a part of Lancashire, although areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated during the 20th century. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a township but began to expand at an astonishing rate around the turn of the 19th century. Manchesters unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and its fortunes declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation. The city centre was devastated in a bombing in 1996, but it led to extensive investment, in 2014, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London. Manchester is the third-most visited city in the UK and it is notable for its architecture, culture, musical exports, media links, scientific and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the worlds first inter-city passenger railway station and in the city scientists first split the atom, the name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunium and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians. These are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, both meanings are preserved in languages derived from Common Brittonic, mam meaning breast in Irish and mother in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English ceaster and their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and Stretford. Central Manchester has been settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest, the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell, much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North. Thomas de la Warre, lord of the manor, founded and constructed a church for the parish in 1421. The church is now Manchester Cathedral, the premises of the college house Chethams School of Music. The library, which opened in 1653 and is open to the public today, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282, around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the regions textile industry
19.
Liverpool
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Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in North West England.24 million people in 2011. Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the south west of the county of Lancashire and it became a borough from 1207 and a city from 1880. In 1889 it became a county borough independent of Lancashire, Liverpool sits on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and its growth as a major port is paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, raw materials such as coal and cotton, the city was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic and others such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, tourism forms a significant part of the citys economy. Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby, the world-famous Grand National horse race takes place annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city. The city is home to the oldest Black African community in the country. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and colloquially as Scousers, a reference to scouse, the word Scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Pool is a place name element in England from the Brythonic word for a pond, inlet, or pit, cognate with the modern Welsh. The derivation of the first element remains uncertain, with the Welsh word Llif as the most plausible relative and this etymology is supported by its similarity to that of the archaic Welsh name for Liverpool Llynlleifiad. Other origins of the name have suggested, including elverpool. The name appeared in 1190 as Liuerpul, and it may be that the place appearing as Leyrpole, in a record of 1418. King Johns letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, the original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape, Bank Street, Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street, Moor Street, in the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, in 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. Since Roman times, the city of Chester on the River Dee had been the regions principal port on the Irish Sea
20.
Lending library
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A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The earliest reference to or use of the lending library yet located in English correspondence dates from ca. Most liberall and lending, referring to the books of a type of library. Xii.475 of Cambridge are Lending-libraries, that is, he that is qualified may borrow out of it any book he wants. This definition is applicable in the United States before 1850. It may also refer to a library or other institution that sends materials on request to another library, leeds Library a private subscription or proprietary library, is also referred to as a public library and a circulating library, illustrating the need for a taxonomy that is not confusing. The major classifications, based on ownership are endowed libraries, institutional libraries, public libraries, and subscription libraries. Without tax from the community a library may be created with a gift or endowment, by subscription, private libraries are not covered by Kelly due to individual or small group ownership and his focus on the public aspect of these institutions. Frequently the books were chained, similar to those in the Francis Trigge Chained Library, early parish church libraries were stated to be for the use of local layman and clergy, but the books were not in English, were largely in Latin, and exclusively theological in character. Though the collections were mainly religious, the collection extended to literature and he also lobbied for public financing, and promoted the circulation of books so that the inhabitants of the parish could take them home. Some contemporary churches such as St James Church, Sydney maintain lending libraries on theological, parochial libraries were defined by Kelly to distinguish them from parish church libraries, whose books could be used by the locals and were often chained to desks. Parochial libraries instead were restricted to the use of parochial authorities, the Church of England after the Restoration wished to reform the ministry of the church by investing in the learning and development of their pastoral care and teaching. Building libraries in poor benefices and isolated ones was part of initiative. In Leicester, the library was looked upon by townsfolk with civic pride, proclaiming that the library would bring fame, honor, and renown to the Corporation and place it was located. Bristol, Leicester and Manchester libraries all chained their books to the press or desk for security purposes. The specialized libraries were mainly medical libraries which early on included chemistry and botany, since there were few professional scientists before 1850, people interested in science relied mainly on general circulating libraries, rather than institutional libraries to meet their needs. Social libraries peaked in significance by the century, and all their many forms have been the object of intense research in North America. These libraries were often referred to as public libraries during the nineteenth century and this appellation over time came to describe tax-supported, publicly administered libraries open to all regardless of class, race or age for free on an equal basis, at least in theory
21.
Conservative Party (UK)
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The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently the party, having won a majority of seats in the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. The partys leader, Theresa May, is serving as Prime Minister. It is the largest party in government with 8,702 councillors. The Conservative Party is one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, the other being its modern rival. The Conservative Partys platform involves support for market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defence, deregulation. In the 1920s, the Liberal vote greatly diminished and the Labour Party became the Conservatives main rivals, Conservative Prime Ministers led governments for 57 years of the twentieth century, including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Thatchers tenure led to wide-ranging economic liberalisation, the Conservative Partys domination of British politics throughout the twentieth century has led to them being referred to as one of the most successful political parties in the Western world. The Conservatives are the joint-second largest British party in the European Parliament, with twenty MEPs, the party is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe Europarty and the International Democrat Union. The party is the second-largest in the Scottish Parliament and the second-largest in the Welsh Assembly, the party is also organised in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The Conservative Party traces its origins to a faction, rooted in the 18th century Whig Party and they were known as Independent Whigs, Friends of Mr Pitt, or Pittites. After Pitts death the term Tory came into use and this was an allusion to the Tories, a political grouping that had existed from 1678, but which had no organisational continuity with the Pittite party. From about 1812 on the name Tory was commonly used for the newer party, the term Conservative was suggested as a title for the party by a magazine article by J. Wilson Croker in the Quarterly Review in 1830. The name immediately caught on and was adopted under the aegis of Sir Robert Peel around 1834. Peel is acknowledged as the founder of the Conservative Party, which he created with the announcement of the Tamworth Manifesto, the term Conservative Party rather than Tory was the dominant usage by 1845. In 1912, the Liberal Unionists merged with the Conservative Party, in Ireland, the Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed in 1891 which merged anti-Home Rule Unionists into one political movement. Its MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster, and in essence formed the Irish wing of the party until 1922. The Conservatives served with the Liberals in an all-party coalition government during World War I, keohane finds that the Conservatives were bitterly divided before 1914, especially on the issue of Irish Unionism and the experience of three consecutive election losses
22.
Viscount Hambleden
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Viscount Hambleden, of Hambleden in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1891 for Emily Danvers Smith, in honour of her deceased husband, both their son, the second Viscount, and grandson, the third Viscount, were involved in the management of the family business, W H Smith. The title was created for Emily Smith and to the male of her body. As of 2017 the title is held by the grandson, the fifth Viscount. Much of the estates were sold in 2007, but the first wife of the late 4th Viscount, Maria Carmela Attolico di Adelfia, still lives in the Manor House at Hambleden. William Henry Smith Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David, new York, St Martins Press,1990. Leigh Rayments Peerage Pages Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by William Herbert Smith, 4th Viscount Hambleden
23.
Viscount
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A viscount or viscountess is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status, but historically deemed to convey a lower-middling rank. In many countries a viscount, and its equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial position. In the case of French viscounts, it is customary to leave the title untranslated as vicomte, the word viscount comes from Old French visconte, itself from Medieval Latin vicecomitem, accusative of vicecomes, from Late Latin vice- deputy + Latin comes. During the Carolingian Empire, the kings appointed counts to administer provinces and other regions, as governors. Viscounts were appointed to assist the counts in their running of the province, the kings strictly prevented the offices of their counts and viscounts from becoming hereditary, in order to consolidate their position and limit chance of rebellion. The title was in use in Normandy by at least the eleventh century. Similar to the Carolingian use of the title, the Norman viscounts were local administrators and their role was to administer justice and to collect taxes and revenues, often being castellan of the local castle. Under the Normans, the position developed into a hereditary one, the viscount was eventually replaced by bailiffs, and provosts. As a rank in British peerage, it was first recorded in 1440, the word viscount corresponds in the UK to the Anglo-Saxon shire reeve. A viscount is the rank in the British peerage system, standing below an earl. There are approximately 270 viscountcies currently extant in the peerages of the British Isles, an exception exists for Viscounts in the peerage of Scotland, who were traditionally styled The Viscount of, such as the Viscount of Arbuthnott. In practice, however, very few maintain this style, instead using the common version The Viscount in general parlance. A British viscount is addressed in speech as Lord, while his wife is Lady, the children of a viscount are known as The Honourable. A specifically British custom is the use of viscount as a title for the heir of an earl or marquess. The peers heir apparent will sometimes be referred to as a viscount, for example, the eldest son of the Earl Howe is Viscount Curzon, because this is the second most senior title held by the Earl. However, the son of a marquess or an earl can be referred to as a viscount when the title of viscount is not the second most senior if those above it share their name with the substantive title. For example, the second most senior title of the Marquess of Salisbury is the Earl of Salisbury, sometimes the son of a peer can be referred to as a viscount even when he could use a more senior courtesy title which differs in name from the substantive title. Family tradition plays a role in this, for example, the eldest son of the Marquess of Londonderry is Viscount Castlereagh, even though the Marquess is also the Earl Vane
24.
Horsted Keynes
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Horsted Keynes is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The village is about 5 miles north east of Haywards Heath, the civil parish is largely rural, covering 1,581 hectares, and has a population of 1,586. The Prime Meridian passes about 1 mile to the east of the village of Horsted Keynes, the place name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village has been twinned with the Normandy village of Cahagnes since 1971. The Horsted Cahagnes Society promotes social and cultural links, and organises annual exchange visits between the two places, on Saturday,28 August 1624, Horsted Keynes hosted what is believed to be the earliest known organised cricket match in Sussex. Knowledge of it stems from the thirteen days later of Jasper Vinall. He had suffered an injury during the game when accidentally hit by the bat. As Vinall came from West Hoathly, it is assumed that the event was a cricket match between the two parish teams. Two months before being assassinated, U. S. President John F. Kennedy slept in the parish when he stayed one Saturday night at Birch Grove, the American Secret Service closed the village that night, siting their communication hub in the Lounge Bar of The Crown Inn. On 1 July 2003 a lightning struck the electricity pole beside The Crown public house on the village green which has stood there for at least 300 years. The roof and much of the building were destroyed in one of the largest fires in the area for many years, fortunately the fire did not spread to the petrol storage tanks of the adjacent Crown Garage. In May 2007 a telephone pole was struck, removing communications from much of the village, several homes in Lewes Road were left without a telephone service for over one month whilst permission was sought to dig on private land to relay a cable. This part of Sussex was known for its iron industry long before the industrial revolution, little remains of this now, except for the hammer ponds and other traces of this activity dotted around the surrounding countryside, although iron working is remembered in many local place names. Horsted Keynes is centred on a green with pubs, Post Office. The Post Office was to be closed down for lack of use but was bought up by a group of villagers who invested in its use for the community. It now serves a rural area. Like many other English villages Horsted Keynes is losing businesses that have been there for many years, after the closure of the main village store in 1992, and the more recent loss of the butcher, village hairdresser and photographer, the village garage closed down in June 2007. It was only 20 years ago that the village had two garages, but now it has none, leaving the nearest petrol retailer more than 6 miles away, planning permission was granted and the garage site has now been turned into residential accommodation
25.
Boots UK
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Boots UK Limited, trading as Boots, is a pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with outlets in most high streets, shopping centres and airport terminals. The companys former parent, The Boots Company Plc, merged with Alliance UniChem in 2006 to form Alliance Boots, in 2012, Walgreens bought a 45% stake Alliance Boots, with the option to buy the rest within three years. It exercised this option in 2014, and as a result Boots became a subsidiary of the new company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, the company operates over 2,500 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland ranging from local pharmacies to large health and beauty stores. Their stores are located on the high streets and in shopping centres. It sells many health and beauty products, and also provides optician and hearing care services within stores, Boots also operates a retail website and runs a loyalty card programme branded as the Boots Advantage Card. Boots was established in 1849, by John Boot, in 1920, Jesse Boot sold the company to the American United Drug Company. However, because of deteriorating economic circumstances in North America Boots was sold back into British hands in 1933, the grandson of the founder, John Boot, who inherited the title Baron Trent from his father, headed the company. The Boots Pure Drug Company name was changed to The Boots Company Limited in 1971, Boots diversified into the research and manufacturing of drugs with its development of the Ibuprofen painkiller during the 1960s, invented by Stewart Adams. The company was awarded the Queens Award For Technical Achievement for this in 1987, a major research focus of Boots in the 1980s was the drug for congestive heart failure Manoplax. In 2006, it sold the Nurofen brand to Reckitt Benckiser, the 2006 sale of Boots Healthcare International included everything made by Crookes Healthcare, based on the Nottingham site. In 1968 Boots acquired the 622-strong Timothy Whites and Taylors Ltd chain, Boots expanded into Canada by purchasing the Tamblyn Drugs chain circa 1978. Most Canadian Boots stores were converted to Pharma Plus in 1989, although a handful of locations remained as late as 1993, in 1982, the company opened a new manufacturing plant in Cramlington, Northumberland. In the early 1990s, Boots began to diversify and bought Halfords and it also developed the Childrens World business but sold it in 1996 to Mothercare. Boots Opticians Ltd. was formed in 1987 with the acquisition of Clement Clarke Ltd. and Curry, Boots Opticians became the UKs second largest retail optics chain. Boots diversified into dentistry in 1998, with a number of stores offering this service, Boots sold its Do-It-All home furnishings chain to Focus in 1998. com to wellbeing. com In late 2004, Boots sold its laser eye surgery business to Optical Express. In October 2005, a merger with Alliance UniChem was announced by the then chairman, the CEO Richard Baker left, and the new group became Alliance Boots plc. The merger became effective on 31 July 2006 and this was the first ever instance of a FTSE100 company having been bought by a private equity firm. In June 2008, the headquarters were moved to Zug
26.
Waterstones
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Waterstones, formerly Waterstones, is a British book retailer that operates 275 stores and was employing around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe in February 2014. Established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone, after whom the company was named, bought again in 1998 by Waterstone, EMI & Advent International, the company was taken under the umbrella of HMV Group, which later merged the Dillons and Ottakars brands into the company. Following several poor sets of results for the group, HMV put the chain up for sale, in May 2011, it was announced that A&NN Capital Fund Management, owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, had bought the chain and appointed James Daunt as managing director. As well as the Waterstones brand, the company owns the London bookseller Hatchards, an average sized Waterstones store sells a range of approximately 30,000 individual books, as well as stationery and eBook readers. The bookseller has concession agreements with Costa Coffee, Paperchase and Starbucks in some stores and since 2012, has introduced its own Café W brand. On May 23,2016, Waterstones announced it had sold its business to Rakuten Kobo Inc. and as of June 14,2016. The chain was founded by Tim Waterstone after he was fired by WHSmith, Waterstone had failed to establish WHSmith in the United States. He used literary authors in front of store displays and employed highly literate staff, the model proved successful and the chain set about expanding its store portfolio. By 1989 however, WHSmith had taken a stake in the chain. WHSmith took over control in 1993 for £9 million. By 1997, the agreement had collapsed and been declared illegal and this included high street brands HMV and rival Dillons, creating an international entertainment retailer. Waterstone was appointed chairman of the group but stood down in 2001 and he was replaced by Alan Giles. A year later, all Dillons stores were rebranded as Waterstones, the chain had also begun pulling out of its US overseas venture. Waterstones launched the Waterstones Books Quarterly magazine in 2001, containing book reviews, in the same year the booksellers online operation, Waterstones. co. uk was franchised to Amazon. com, with the company expressing a desire to concentrate on its high street and campus stores. The move resulted in the loss of 50 jobs, in 2003, Waterstones announced it was supporting Dyslexia Action as its chosen charity, helping to raise awareness and understanding for dyslexia. In 2006 Giles stepped down from his position and was replaced by Gerry Johnson as managing director of Waterstones, a strategic review in September saw Waterstones pull out of its franchise agreement with Amazon to re-launch its online business, Waterstones. com, independently. The chain also began to pilot a loyalty programme in South West England, the scheme was successful, launching nationally as The Waterstones Card across its entire store portfolio. Waterstones piloted a brand refresh exercise in selected stores, beginning with Manchesters Arndale Centre in 2007, on 19 November 2007, the chain closed its first branch on Old Brompton Road
27.
Our Price
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Our Price was a chain of record stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 1971 until 2004. Founded in 1971 by Gary Nesbitt, Edward Stollins and Mike Isaacs, until 1976, the first six stores were branded The Tape Revolution, and concentrated on selling the then-new compact cassette format and eight track tapes. From 1976, the chain rebranded to Our Price Records in response to local demand for vinyl records over eight tracks. In 1988, it re branded again to Our Price Music, in 1993, a final brand relaunch occurred with the then three-hundred-store chain calling themselves simply Our Price. The company was based in London, with an office above the shop in Kensington High Street. These different routes to market fell away after the chain grew in 1980. Thereafter, national expansion followed, with the 100th store opening in the Kings Road, Chelsea, the 200th at Stirling, Scotland, in the first half of the 1980s, Our Price established itself as the United Kingdoms second largest retailer of records and tapes. Brand recognition was driven by pun-rich radio advertising built around the Get Down To Our Price slogan, a sister chain, Our Price Video, was established to capitalise on the success of the new VHS tape format, and some towns eventually had two or three Our Price-branded stores. Our Price Video was later rebranded under the Playhouse fascia, but failed to establish a significant market share in VHS sales, and it was wound up by owners, WH Smith, in the late 1990s. In 1987, the star, Shakin Stevens, chose a branch of Our Price to film the opening scene of his video for. The expansion of Thorn EMI owned HMV in the late 1980s established a chain of newer, larger stores, in addition to its high street chain, WH Smith also owned the chain Do It All, Sherratt & Hughes booksellers, and other businesses. This changed Our Price fundamentally, and several members of senior management left the company in 1989 to create the rival MVC. In 1994, WH Smith bought a majority interest in Richard Bransons Virgin Music retail chain, the next year, Virgin/Our Price increased profits by 10 per cent. However, sales dropped by 3% in the year to May 1997, in this period, WH Smith opened twenty three new Virgin Megastores, while closing nineteen stores of Our Price. Even though Our Price had more outlets, over half the turnover then consisted of sales from stores trading under the Virgin brand with their footprints in more high customer traffic locations. Yet, in 1998, WH Smith sold Virgin/Our Price for £145 million to a division of the Virgin Group of companies in response to the stores losing £127 million in the year to date. After this takeover in 1998, the Virgin Group attempted to sell its newly acquired chain of Our Price to Our Prices very own management team, in a failed management buy-out. In August 2000, it was announced that the Our Price name would be dropped from 102 of its stores in favour of the Virgin name, or VShop, mainly in South East England
28.
Virgin Group
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Virgin Group Ltd. is a British Multinational corporation venture capital Conglomerate founded by entrepreneurs Sir Richard Branson and Nik Powell. Virgin Groups date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, the net worth of Virgin Group was estimated at £5-5.5 billion as of November 2014. The brand name Virgin arose when Richard Branson and Nik Powell formed a record shop and they considered themselves virgins in business. Branson has described the V in the logo as an expressive tick, Virgin Group announced the establishment of Virgin Cruises on December 4,2014 with financial backing from Bain Capital. The cruise line would be lead by CEO Tom McAlpin, would have two new ships built and be based in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. Virgin Group has its headquarters at The Battleship Building in the Paddington district of the City of Westminster, previously it was in The School House in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The Virgin Group of companies have a structure that contains elements of a generic conglomerate. Examples of licensing are Virgin Records and Virgin Media, in mid-May 2013, the Virgin Group expressed its intention to seek out opportunities in Australias healthcare industry to consolidate on the Groups Australian fitness centers. It operated for 14 years, until November 2010
29.
Virgin Megastores
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Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded by Sir Richard Branson as a record shop on Londons Oxford Street in early 1976. In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street, by 2015, current operations are exclusively in the Middle East and in North Africa, consisting of approximately 40 stores. After making the shop into a success, they turned their business into a fully fledged record label, the name Virgin, according to Branson, arose from a colleague of his when they were brainstorming business ideas. She suggested Virgin – as they were all new to business – like virgins, the first release on the label was the progressive rock album Tubular Bells by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield in 1973. Virgins first formal store opened on Londons Oxford Street in January or February 1971, in 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Marble Arch. Virgin Megastores and Virgin Records operate as separate entities, like many of the other Virgin companies. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Virgin Megastores opened over 100 stores in the UK, like many of Bransons Virgin brands, Virgin Megastores is not wholly owned by the Virgin Group. During the early to mid-2000s Virgin Group decided to sell off most of its Virgin Megastores to various companies, by 2001 the Virgin Megastores worldwide were split between the Virgin Group and the Lagardère Group. Virgin Megastores in the Middle East currently trades as V Star Multimedia LLC, Culture Convenience Club owns what was Virgin Megastores Japan, which have since been rebranded as Tsutaya. In December 2007 Butler Capital Partners announced their intention to mount a majority takeover of the French arm of Virgin from Lagardère and this deal was finalised in February 2008. In 2007 the real estate company Related Companies and Vornado Realty Trust acquired Virgin Megastores North America and they have since made the decision to close all of the American stores. Larger stores also stock electronic equipment and computer peripherals, note that not all of these product categories are stocked by all Virgin shops, though the larger stores do generally stock the full product range. In 2003, all US Stores increased their focus on multiple fashion categories spanning Pop culture, Street, Urban, Movie & TV to complement the music, DVD, Virgin Mobile products can also be found in separately run Virgin Mobile Concessions within most Virgin Megastores. Some shops also house cafes or coffee shops run by external companies, in 2005, Virgin Digital was launched to cater for those that bought their music digitally or wanted to rip and burn their current music collection. This is designed to add to the services provided by Virgin, the download service has faced some criticism from consumer groups due to its incompatibility with the popular iPod music players. The service has since been discontinued, around the world there were other Virgin branded digital music retail websites, such as VirginMega. fr, Frances number 2 music download website. In 2003, the first and only Virgin Megastore in Vienna, Mariahilferstraße, was sold, there were 35 Virgin Megastores in France. 12 additional stores in France were branded Furet du Nord, the French Megastore business was launched in 1988 by Branson and Patrick Zelnick, CEO of music publisher Naïve
30.
John Menzies
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John Menzies plc is a Scottish business established in 1833. It has two divisions, Menzies Distribution and Menzies Aviation and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. They now provide services in fast-moving time-critical markets. The company was founded by John Menzies of Edinburgh, a Victorian entrepreneur who built up his small newsagent business into a national chain, Menzies died at his townhouse,3 Grosvenor Crescent in Edinburghs West End and was buried in Warriston Cemetery on the north side of the city. In 1988 the business purchased 66 of the Martin Retail Groups largest stores in England and these stores were quickly rebranded as Menzies stores. The retail operation was sold to W H Smith High Street in 1998 to enable Menzies to concentrate on its distribution business. In 2007 John Menzies merged its newspaper and magazine wholesale distribution businesses in Northern Ireland into a joint venture with Eason & Son to be called EM News Distribution. Menzies Aviation is a provider of services to the global airline industry. Its service offer is split between Ground Handling, Cargo Handling, Cargo Forwarding and Fuelling, Ground Handling At 143 airports across the globe, this stream of the business supports millions of passengers every year from the check-in desk to the runway, on behalf of their airlines. Its service menu includes issuing tickets, handling baggage, boarding passengers, Cargo Forwarding Air freight is an expensive means of transport and requires a certain critical mass of cargo in order to be viable. Fuelling Menzies Aviation completed the acquisition of ASIG from BBA Aviation plc for US$202m, Menzies Distribution is a major logistics supplier in the United Kingdom. It provides final mile delivery for 110 million delivery units each year, serving customers in the press, travel, the division operates one of the largest overnight logistics networks in the UK. Menzies Distribution’s service offer is split into 5 distinct areas, Trucking – moving bulk supplies of products long distance across the UK, using large trucks. Final mile – cross-docking, picking, packing and delivering products to their end destinations with a fleet of smaller vans, hand-to-hand – micro-delivery services and product sampling, handing items directly to the businesses and consumers for whom they are intended. Response – fulfilment services tailored for e-commerce and mail order, storing, picking and despatching stock items on demand, FORE – an independently-run, specialist consultancy which advises retail businesses on category management. Menzies Parcels - John Menzies now provides services in the Scottish Highlands, Islands. The name Menzies is traditionally pronounced /ˈmɪŋɪs/ MING-iss, as the z is historically the letter ȝ, even in Scotland, the name of the retail stores was increasingly pronounced as John MEN-zeez. John Menzies plc company website Menzies Distribution Menzies Aviation
31.
Permira
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Permira is a European private equity firm, founded in 1985. The firm advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately €200 billion, since 1985 the Permira funds, raised from pension funds and other institutions, have made nearly 200 private equity investments. Permira specialises in five sectors, Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials, there are currently 25 companies in the Permira funds’ portfolio and the firm comprises approximately 120 professionals. Permira was founded in 1985 by Nicholas Ferguson as a number of country-specific separate businesses operating under the Schroder Ventures brand, in 1996, the UK, French, German and Italian teams joined together to create Schroder Ventures Europe and in 1997 it raised its first pan-European fund. In 2001, the firm was renamed Permira, Permira opened an office in New York City in 2002, one in Tokyo in 2005 and one in Hong Kong in 2008. It also opened an office in Menlo Park in 2008,2015 - Acquisition of Medora Snacks and Ideal Snacks. 2014 - Acquisition of $200 million of the equity of LegalZoom. 2013 - Acquisition of R Griggs Group, parent of the Doc Martens brand for 300 million pounds or USD $485.7 million. com, global leader in online family history - €1
32.
Connect Group
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Connect Group PLC is a specialist distributor, headquartered in Swindon, England. The company, originally known as WHSmith News was created and renamed Smiths News PLC on 1 September 2006 from the demerger of W H Smith plc, in April 2014, Smiths News PLC rebranded as Connect Group PLC to reflect the diversity of the Groups markets. Connect Group PLC is made up of four divisions, News & Media, Books, Education & Care, on 12 April 2006, the board of WH Smith PLC announced its intention to demerge the retail and news distribution arms of the business into two separate companies. The resulting companies are W H Smith PLC, and Smiths News PLC, the demerger took effect on 30 August 2006. On 17 March 2014, Smiths News PLC announced it would be renamed Connect Group PLC and this took effect on 22 April 2014 and introduced a divisional reporting structure, consisting of three divisions, Connect News & Media, Connect Education & Care and Connect Books. The trading companies, including Smiths News, The Consortium and Bertrams, will remain the same and continue to trade under their current names. Connect News & Media is made up of businesses but that its main business is Smiths News. It employs 4,312 people and has sales of £1,067 million and its main competitors are Menzies Distribution. It currently has a 55% market share, on 20 March 2009, Bertram, a book wholesaler, entered administration and on the same day Ernst & Young sold the business to Smiths News for £8,611,622 in a pre-pack deal. This division also contains Dawson Books, Erasmus and Wordery, on 24 April 2012, The Consortium, a wholesaler to the education and care sector, was acquired by Smiths News PLC. In November 2014 Connect Group bought Tuffnells parcel delivery company for £113.4 million
33.
The Entertainer (retailer)
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The Entertainer Ltd. is the UKs largest independent toy retailer, which operates 124 stores. The company was founded by the husband and wife team Catherine and Gary Grant in 1981, the Entertainer began when the Grants took over The Pram and Toy Bar located in Amersham, Buckinghamshire in early 1981. The shop was renamed The Entertainer in May that year, in 1985, they purchased their second shop, located on The Broadway in Beaconsfield. In April 1991, ten years after the acquisition of the toy shop in Amersham, the company then underwent massive expansion and, by 2001, the chain had opened its 25th shop, located in the Victoria Centre in Nottingham. Stores from this period characteristically had a shopping aisle format with one or two open areas for demonstrations or stacks of products during busier periods. This format has now been discontinued, the flagship store bearing this format is the Coliseum store. In about 2003, a new format was devised in an effort to modernise the chain with the opening of the new flagship store in the Bull Ring in Birmingham. The companys primary colour was changed from red to blue, with the name now inscribed in the font VAGRounded. Stores now have a complex layout with false protruding walls. New stores often have the new slogan mad about toys inscribed on the stores fascia. Stores from the era are being refitted and relaunched on a needs basis. Stores are often given brighter lighting and new unified signage that runs all the way around the store, the latest store to open was the Torquay store, the Grand Opening of which was on 4 July 2015. Gary Grant describes himself as a charismatic evangelical Christian, hence, unusually for British retailers, The Entertainer retail locations do not open on Sundays. The business does not sell products deemed to have a connection to the occult, Toy machine guns are not stocked, although toy firearms of other kinds are sold. The Grant Foundation is The Entertainers charitable wing, in line with biblical practice The Entertainer tithes its profits. In 2005, The Entertainer launched its own Charity Wristband Partnership with 15 charities raising over £300,000 for a range of different causes. In August 2011, The Entertainer switched on Pennies, the charity box in all of its stores, allowing its customers to round-up their purchases. It was the first high street shop to do so, joining Dominos Pizza, Zizzi Restaurants, in November 2015, The Entertainer announced that Pennies donations had raised £1m for charity
34.
Leeds railway station
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Leeds railway station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is the third busiest railway station in the UK outside London and it is located on New Station Street to the south of City Square, at the bottom of Park Row, behind the landmark Queens Hotel, it is one of 19 stations managed by Network Rail. Leeds is an important hub on the British rail network, there are also regular inter-city services to major destinations throughout Northern England including Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield. It is also the terminus for trains running on the scenic Settle to Carlisle Line, future expansion will link the station to the proposed High Speed 2 network. Leeds is a hub for local and regional destinations across Yorkshire such as to York, Scarborough, Hull, Doncaster. The station lies at the heart of the Metro commuter network for West Yorkshire providing services to Bradford, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, the railway station is situated on a hill falling from the south of the city to the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal basin. The railway station has 17 platforms, making it the largest by number of platforms in England outside London, there are 11 terminus and six through platforms. Most platforms are subdivided into up to four sections, i. e. 1a, 1b, all together including the numbers, there are 47 platforms. Retail facilities in the station include coffee shops, fast food outlets, a bar, newsagents, chemists, a British Transport Police station on New Station Street houses officers who police the West Yorkshire railway stations. Leeds railway station retained manned ticket barriers through the 1990s until 2008 when they were replaced by automatic barriers by Northern to improve congestion around the barriers at peak times,9,11,12,15,16 – through platforms. CrossCountry services heading north to York and beyond depart from Platforms 9 or 11,7,14 – Bay platforms used for local Northern services running north/east from Leeds. Leeds Interchange, located at the New Station Street exit, provides onward transport connections from the station. There are five bus stands serving Arriva, First and Yorkshire Tiger routes 4,5,16, 16A,19, 19A,40,85,87,90,757,870, a 24-hour taxi rank also operates at the interchange. Further bus stops are located on Neville Street below the railway station, infirmary Street and Boar Lane Bus Points are a short walk for more bus connections. Leeds Interchange hosts one of the UKs first cycle hubs that allows a number of cycling services including repair, storage, the facility opened in summer 2010 and is designed to encourage visitors and commuters into Leeds to continue their journey from the railway station by bike. Its design is based on the Dutch cyclepoint concept, the railways arrived in Leeds in 1834 when the Leeds and Selby Railway opened its line. It had a terminus at Marsh Lane east of the city centre, in 1840, the North Midland Railway constructed its line from Derby via Rotherham to a terminus at Hunslet Lane to the south. It was extended to a more centrally-located terminus at Wellington Street in 1846, another railway station, Leeds Central, was opened in 1854 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway and the London and North Western Railway, or LNWR
35.
QualitySolicitors
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QualitySolicitors is a grouping of law firms in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2008 and has over 200 branches, QualitySolicitors was founded in 2008 as an internet-based alliance of independent law firms in the United Kingdom. In May 2010 member firms began to rebrand under the QualitySolicitors name, in April 2011 QualitySolicitors agreed a deal with the retailer WHSmith under which QualitySolicitors would place representatives in up to 500 of its branches. In October 2011 the private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the QualitySolicitors holding company in an estimated at around £100 million. In March 2012 QualitySolicitors launched a £15 million television advertising campaign, QualitySolicitors has over 200 branches across the UK and previously held locations in 160 WHSmith outlets. Member firms pay varying annual fees to the QualitySolicitors holding company and this revenue is used to fund central costs such as advertising. Brands taking the law into their own hands
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