History
The company was founded in 1934 by Ethel Austin in the front room of her terraced house in Liverpool, helping neighbours with their knitting. This proved so successful that within five years of going into business, she had opened three shops. The business became a well-known and established chain in the North West of England and North Wales throughout the mid-to-late 20th century. Ethel Austin herself died in January 1989 at the age of 88.
In June 2002, the Austin family sold the business to a management team backed by Lloyds TSB Development Capital (LDC) for £55 million. Less than two years later, ABN-AMRO Capital bought the business for £122.5 million. In mid-2007, it was announced that the company had won the contract to supply uniforms for the Liverpool - European City of Culture 2008 event. In November 2007, the company ran new adverts on British television, which used the BodyRockers song "I Like the Way (You Move)".
At this point, the company had over 300 stores.
Read more about this topic: Ethel Austin
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