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s and u

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cazxx1

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Does anyone remember the ...s and u store in bham, I remember my aunt took us there when I was about 7 ans she told me I could have whatever toy I wanted.....but I have no clue what I picked lol
 
Everything's rosy in the S & U gardenDerek Coombs and family - £44m (£40m)
Progress continues at S & U plc, not least on the shares front.
In 1999 you might have been able to purchase the company's shares for 292p. In June 2004, you would have had to pay 522p and at the time of writing the shares stand at 547.5p.
In the financial year ending in 2004, the group reported profits up from £7.846 million to £9.037 million, with net assets rising from £35 million to £38 million.
The results for the half-year ending July 31 were even more encouraging with profits up from £4.206 million to £4.914 million, a rise of 16 per cent on the same period the previous year.
The board announced an increase in the interim dividend from 8p to 9p, a welcome increase for shareholders, of whom a large percentage is called Coombs. Payments made in the full year to chairman Derek Coombs of £238,000, managing director Anthony Coombs, £195,000 and Graham Coombs, £157,000, were buoyed up by dividends paid of £3,558,000 of which some 30 per cent would have gone to the

Based in Solihull, S&U plc is the one of the UK's top consumer and motor finance providers, employing 700 people across the country servicing around 130,000 customers at any one time.
Founded in 1938 and floated on the Stock Exchange in 1961, the company has "solid performer" writ large throughout.
The company is particularly proud of the progress made since its launch in July 1999 of Advantage Finance (nothing to do with Advantage West Midlands, so no reason to mark it down).
This division made a very encouraging increase in pre-tax profits in the latest half year, from £768,000 to £1.096 million.
Advantage was said to be trading ahead of budget and looks set to contribute significantly to the next full year results.
The family also has a large stake in the Kings Norton-based houseware and engineering firm Metalrax. John Crabtree, former senior partner at Birmingham law firm Wragge & Co, took over as non-executive chairman from Eric Moore who stepped down in May 2004 after 40 years with the firm.
In September, Metalrax which employs around 1,350 of its 1,800 workforce in the Midlands, announced a slight dip in first half profit to £5.23 million on sales of £50.58 million.
The company has now disposed of its remaining interests in The Texas Group Inc, and profits resulting from the withdrawal from the United States will included in the next full year results.
During 2004, Metalrax bought out Premier Stairways, another Kings Norton-based company, which is a specialist supplier of high-quality architectural metalwork to the construction industry.
In the year to June 2003, Premier Stairways made a pre-tax profit before dividend of £316,000 on turnover of £2.459 million.
Metalrax paid an initial consideration of around £1.330 million and will pay a maximum further £500,000 depending on profits during the first two years post-acquisition.
The mood looks positive, and the results are not far behind, so we are happy to uprate the Coombs family to £44 million. S & U based in Solihull now and making a fortune. Len.
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There was lot,s of places like s & u when i was a kid.
Stevens off grn lane opp the custard house Roses off Newhall st in town
we also had an elderly lady called Mrs Perry lived up by the Maypole,used to have
a little red book and a pencil she put in her mouth to write with (endelable was it)?
happy days regards dereklcg.
 
Old Boy said:
There was me thinking that they had gone out of business since they left Edgbaston Street in Birmingham. Perhaps it is a pity that they sold B'ham City Football Clubl It might have progressed like the store.

Old Boy
Click to expand...
I guess they saw the light and got out of both Retail sales and Football.
 
Gil Merrick was the Personell Manager for several years, they only used the showroom so that their customers could choose what the wanted, the employed door to door sales men (known as tally men by their Brummie customers), i don`t think you had to put a deposit down, when you finished paying for one item you were encouraged to carry on paying and buy another item, it was credit selling and the interest added was high, this was before 1953 & after, as far as i know it was absolutely legal. Len.
 
S and U Edgbaston St opposite midland red bus station, yes i remember it well, my mom used to buy clothes,toys,household things,you could pay weekly. In the 50s/60s they
used to have massive christmas parties for poorer children certainly from Ballsall Heath
and maybe other areas i dont know.It was a really nice store with good quality merchandise.
 
When I left school in 1957 I worked in Solicitors Office. They were the Coombes family Solicitors for their private and business affairs.
One day I was sent to Four Oaks on the train to the Coombes family home to get some papers signed.
They lived in a large Art Deco house ,I had never seen anything so grand and the family were lovely.
 
I think the house you mention may be where they had the xmas parties,i never went
myself but the people who spoke about them said they went on a coach to a big house,
Its nice to think they done things for those less fortunate than themseleves
 
When i worked at the Met some body started a Christmas club to save for a hamper at S and U and when they arrived they were rubbish and not worth the money so we took them back and they gave us a refund

Mossy
 
I think hampers like that are always very disappointing, you will never get everything
you like, and they are always overpriced,some people love hampers though,I buy the things i know the person likes, a nice basket,ribbon, and make them up myself,same
thing applies with selection boxes, overpriced,buy a little gift bag fill it with favorites
half the price and if its for your own children you can use the bag every year just put
them away with the decorations,
 
Many years ago in the early 50s my dad bought a mantle clock from S & U, apparently someone came knocking on the door selling things from a catalogue and dad knew her from way back, that was the only reason he bought it, but it was a very nice looking clock. It was the one and only item we had though.
 
My mom dealt with them for years, they sold very nice things and i don't think it was overpriced,of course you paid a bit exta if you paid weekly,but that still applies today
and if you had a big family and not a big income it was very helpful.People live on credit cards now thats much more expensive.
 
I remember the S and U store, someone I used to work with took us for lunch at the Restaurant there back in the 70's. I think that was the only time I ever went inside.
 
Hey i had forgot about the restaurant in the basement,and a little cafe, i used to go in
with my mom whenever we went there.
I bought the best pair of shoes ever late 60s at S&U they cost me very nearly a weeks
wages,I worked at the Chad in Harborne then,but they were a one off pair and so nice even lads commented on them,
 
My mom always got our stuff on knock from the S&U But we also had the clubman from similar warehouse in cato street . Does anyone remeber the name of that one. the sales guys would call at all the poorer roads and get some brill stuff out there boot then they would offer it fo 3d or a tanner a week.
I still remeber when our mom was skint some weeks we would hide behind the sofa.
colin
 
I had my first Salesmans Job working for S&U as a Tallyman out of a shop in Kings Heath it was a good grounding for better things that I did later in life.

I worked on the doors in Small Heath by the Blues ground till they moved me to Erdington nearer home
 
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alf
you probally sold my mom stuff then . we lived on the corner of tilton road and cattel road.
we were next door to the old ladies seconhand clothes shop.
I dont remeber dodging you though ha ha
 
my mom used to get a voucher from the s&u tallyman and as kids we were dragged along to get our clothes from there and the tallyman collected the rest of the year another one like that was Hugh Wylies
 
colin walker said:
alf
you probally sold my mom stuff then . we lived on the corner of tilton road and cattel road.
we were next door to the old ladies seconhand clothes shop.
I dont remeber dodging you though ha ha
Click to expand...

Must have done Colin I did Tilton Road
 
hi guys i am researching the company s and u which was a huge furiture store and finace company i the old bull ring by the rag alley
could any body ive methe low down or info on this compay please i do beleive it was around the seventy or eightys they closed the store
but i beleive it fell into liquidation was there some managent struck offs legally many thanks and any tit bits of info ; appreciated astonian;
 
S&U Stores were, I am sure, credit drapers - probably amongst other things. I met someone once, in the Totnes area who worked for them and knocked doors and collected money for that Company. I am pretty sure that their local store was in Torquay. The building is a furniture store now.
I am also of the belief that he was a Midlander as was also the Torquay United ball boy, back in the 1960's, who worked for a similar type of company, the Provident Clothing Co. which, I believe, still exists but with a different emphasis.

One of the aspects of firefighting, other than making out fires, is that you get to me a lot of folk from different social strata and,when the dust has settled, often get to have a interesting conversation with them.
 
S & U Edgbaston Street was owned by Clifford Coombs who was chairman of BCFC, I once went to the Coombs house in Four Oaks when I worked for the
firm who managed the S & U legal affairs.

Incidently, the next firm I worked for were taken over by GUS, the chairman Sir Isaac Woolfson was a really lovely man.
 
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hi alan , and carolina
may thanks for your input on this firstly carol is this the same gus as catolgue that was out years ago plus alan is this the gil merrick the foot ball player ? .
i also have been informed that this s And u was also a finnance company in big style but some where along the line there was a mister mena agaist the company directors and was banned from running bussiness i think it was published in the birmingham mail many years back in the seventys
any way i will dig deeper and thanks for your input best wishes astonian;;
 
Astonian said:
hi alan , and carolina
may thanks for your input on this firstly carol is this the same gus as catolgue that was out years ago plus alan is this the gil merrick the foot ball player ? .
i also have been informed that this s And u was also a finnance company in big style but some where along the line there was a mister mena agaist the company directors and was banned from running bussiness i think it was published in the birmingham mail many years back in the seventys
any way i will dig deeper and thanks for your input best wishes astonian;;
Click to expand...

S and U stores are still trading. The Coombs family still have a connection. Here's a link to the present day company and its history:https://www.suplc.co.uk/about_us.aspx
 
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