The closure of Cavendish Textiles, 2011

A successful formula

By the 1990’s Cavendish Textiles was well established at Victoria, and despite a number of internal shake-ups, was still working closely with central buyers and using the two major production units of Stead McAlpin and Herbert Parkinson. The fact that very little had changed over the years, shows just what a successful venture Cavendish Textiles had proven to be.

Closure

Continual reshuffles at Central eventually got the better of Cavendish Textiles. After the decision was made by the Partnership to transfer the work of Cavendish to other buying and sourcing teams, the natural decision was reached to close the existing branch. Happily most of the affected Partners were simply transferring to the new offices. Manager of Cavendish Textiles at that time, Rob Martin summed up the impact of Cavendish when he stated that

The Cavendish operation was unique, [it] generated significant sales and profits for the Partnership over its history. It played a major role in achieving the position of strength that John Lewis enjoys in home textiles today.