Enterprise and Society Advance Access originally published online on October 18, 2006
Enterprise and Society 2006 7(4):777-811; doi:10.1093/es/khl042
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Innovation and Corporate Failure: Cyril Lord in U.K. Textiles, 19451968
PHILIP OLLERENSHAW is Head of the School of History, University of the West of England, Bristol. Contact information: School of History, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 2JP, UK. E-mail: philip.ollerenshaw{at}uwe.ac.uk.
This article is a response to Patrick Fridensons call for more research into the life cycle of enterprises and especially into business failure. Its subject is the textile group established in 1945 by Cyril Lord, which went on to encompass merchanting, manufacturing, retailing, and finance, operating in the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Africa. Using unpublished records as well as the financial and trade press, the article explains the nature of Lords financial, mercantile, and manufacturing networks, and his rapid growth, based on product innovation, novel sales techniques, and massive advertising. The article then examines his subsequent insolvency and receivership in 1968. It contributes to our understanding of corporate failure and the role of the receiver, financial institutions, and government in that process.