Victorian Bournemouth (245) has analysed the social and career profiles of bank managers who had retired to the resort by 1901. They emerge as social stalwarts. The study also reveals how, during this period, banks and staff hid their marketing activities within a cloak of social respectability. This apparent generosity seems in sharp contrast with the advertised pursuit of Mammon practised today.
Victorian Bournemouth (244) has suggested how Bournemouth Steam Laundry’s financial prudence, effective marketing, and worker safety contributed to a robust business model that could withstand the pressures of competition and economic fluctuations. Furthermore, the long-term management style of Robert and Catherine Catt made the company a showcase for how employee satisfaction and commercial profit could co-exist. As a proactive manager, Robert Catt combined attention to detail, commitment to safety, regular innovation, and positive media relations. The Catt family connected their family, friends, and employees into a unified network. This perhaps created a supportive and harmonious work-place environment, benefiting all network members, whatever their social position. The success of this approach perhaps appears in the family’s management of the firm extending over at least two generations and several decades.
Victorian Bournemouth (243) has explored events that concerned Bournemouth’s two Perfect Thrift Building Society funds. Newspaper reports suggest that the savings society perhaps achieved a measure of success. Several people won the lottery prizes, although the draws did not happen often. Malpractice lay not far from building societies at this time and may have reached Perfect Thrift, in Bournemouth and across the network. The founder disappeared after a large shortfall emerged at Leeds, while the secretary at Bournemouth took his family to Valparaiso in 1896. Nevertheless, some working people at Bournemouth, attracted by the dream of thrift, economy, and independence, found themselves assisted by their Perfect Thrift.
Victorian Bournemouth (242) has followed the fortunes of the two main local omnibus companies operating during the 1890s. Beneficial to their directors and shareholders for a while, a comfortable cartel between them, neither could withstand the commercial threat posed by motor traffic and the tramlines.
Victorian Bournemouth (241) has examined aspects of the strike undertaken in 1897 by local carpenters and joiners. Between the lines of the press reports lies the possibility that the union had too few members to create a strike strong enough to bring down the establishment. In January 1898, a reporter called at the union’s clubroom, only to find that the leader had also returned to work. Thus, the first strike at Bournemouth vaporised, unable to contest a wealthy and powerful network of employers.
Victorian Bournemouth (240) has explored the foundation and activities of the local Trades’ Council, a group which acted as a central point for several of the resort’s unions. Established under the guidance of a tailor, Elias Davies, the group played a role in establishing credibility for unionisation. Davies had an interest in literacy and education. He showed a willingness to speak in public or to write to the press. Although Bournemouth experienced its first strike during the 1890s, the Trades’ Council did not appear to act in a militant fashion.
Victorian Bournemouth (239) has surveyed the category and social profiles found for female drapery assistants working at Plummer, Roddis, and Tyrell during the 1890s. In most cases, the girls came from respectable backgrounds, yet proved willing to work for a living. Their social profile suited them well to assist well-heeled customers drawn by the new super-stores.
Victorian Bournemouth (238) has investigated events surrounding the bankruptcy of draper Stephen Ely. It has uncovered a web of dubious supply and financial management. The case leaves unanswered whether Ely’s involvement concerned just commercial failure or extended into the dubious practice of evading insolvency. He claimed never to have met the man to whom he transferred his assets, with the entire process carried out through the unilateral signing of documents. However, soon after, the business went up for sale at £5,000, a price well below the value of his buildings.
Victorian Bournemouth (237) has found that the fabric’s business bustled its way into an important component within the local economy. The category, employing always more people, spread into the suburbs. It drew more women into the economy. Competition introduced new fabrics, induced specialisation amongst retailers, and changed consumers’ shopping experience. The opening of Plummer, Roddis, Tyrrell summarised the category’s changes under one roof in spring, 1898.
Victorian Bournemouth (236) examines the history of the local Steam Packet company during the 1880s and 1890s. The company did not establish a well-defined mission, shifting among various aims. These included serving as a vanity project for its directors, seeking to compete with other companies for profits, and contributing to the town’s reputation. Multiple factors, such as adverse weather, an economic downturn in the early 1890s, and management challenges, contributed to the company’s closure.