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Can any other wiki members shed some light on James Howell and the beginnings of his store? 01:10, 18 March 2007 Sheep21
The History of the store is so shamefully lacking detail that the page as currently shown, and I believe should not be published.
My interest in this is that James Howells was a major part of my life while growing up and planning my career.
My Grandfather was Chairman and my father was Managing DIrector of James Howell for many years. Together they grew the company from a small single store to a business with department stores in Newport and Swansea. They created a Motor DIvision that had 13 garages throughout South Wales, as well as becoming the main distributor for BMC for South Wales and the West of England. They were the Rolls Royce, Aston Martin and Jaguar dealers for Cardiff. The headquarters of the Motor Division was on the Newport Road. They built the bridge across Wharton street, They opened one of the largest grocery store in Cardiff at the time, based on the Harrod's food department Model, because my father worked at Harrod's at one time, and I even started my training at Harrods with the intention of moving into Howells later in my career. In 1962 Julian Hodge and the Thorpe's made a deal that involved the exchange of shares and controlling interest in the company. The agreement was written in such a way as the two parties had different expectations and understanding. My grandfather the Chairman, A.A Thorpe. OBE, and my Father the Managing DIrector, V.F.A.Thorpe, OBE, both resigned the positions on the Board and with the company. A few years later A.A. Thorpe and Julian Hodge reconciled and A.A. Thorpe was reappointed to the Chairman of the Board while Julian Hodge had the controlling interest until about 1968. During this period the Howell family was represented by Geoffrey who was on the Board. The controlling interest was bought by my grandfather, father and an unknown to me person (I can guess) from the Howell family starting in 1943.
So, your History section is misrepresenting who controlled over time. My understanding is that Geoffrey Howell and the Howell family had no shares in the company at the time he was on the Board and when the Hodge takeover took place.
If there is any interest in correcting this entry then changes need to be made to include the Thorpe era.
I have just joined this group and need to read the guidelines so that I may ---- — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roythorpe (talk • contribs) 18:39, 23 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
