History
The British Shoe Corporation was formed in 1956 by Sir Charles Clore. In 1953 he had taken over the company of J. Sears and Co., an amalgamation of J. Sears and Freeman Hardy and Willis Ltd. This company later became Sears PLC, and following the sale of BSC was ultimately acquired by Philip Green in 1999. (Yeah, that guy...)
The site in Leicester was the head office of British Shoe, and opened in January 1964. The site closed in July 1998, following some botched sales, and subsequent sale of the remaining parts of British Shoe Corp. Since the closure of BSC, parts of the site have been occupied by other businesses, including one of the office blocks. During this time other parts of the site have remained mostly empty.
Now the entire site is in the process of being demolished to make way for a new distribution centre. The expansive warehouses have been in the process of demolition for some time now, but with those almost all gone, the office blocks will follow shortly. During our visits there was evidence of work being carried out in the buildings. Between visits metal was stripped from radiators and holes punched in walls, presumably testing for asbestos before the demolition starts.
The Explore
We heard this place had been empty for some time, and demolition had begun so thought we'd pay a visit. So me, @mineorluke and his mate rocked up one evening, and started looking for access when we spotted a torch flash on the stairs. Just our luck, mattdonut appears and lets us in... Cheers matt
These photos were taken over the course of 3 visits.
BSC building in its former glory... in 1964
The British Shoe Corporation was formed in 1956 by Sir Charles Clore. In 1953 he had taken over the company of J. Sears and Co., an amalgamation of J. Sears and Freeman Hardy and Willis Ltd. This company later became Sears PLC, and following the sale of BSC was ultimately acquired by Philip Green in 1999. (Yeah, that guy...)
The site in Leicester was the head office of British Shoe, and opened in January 1964. The site closed in July 1998, following some botched sales, and subsequent sale of the remaining parts of British Shoe Corp. Since the closure of BSC, parts of the site have been occupied by other businesses, including one of the office blocks. During this time other parts of the site have remained mostly empty.
Now the entire site is in the process of being demolished to make way for a new distribution centre. The expansive warehouses have been in the process of demolition for some time now, but with those almost all gone, the office blocks will follow shortly. During our visits there was evidence of work being carried out in the buildings. Between visits metal was stripped from radiators and holes punched in walls, presumably testing for asbestos before the demolition starts.
The Explore
We heard this place had been empty for some time, and demolition had begun so thought we'd pay a visit. So me, @mineorluke and his mate rocked up one evening, and started looking for access when we spotted a torch flash on the stairs. Just our luck, mattdonut appears and lets us in... Cheers matt
These photos were taken over the course of 3 visits.
BSC building in its former glory... in 1964
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