| Type | Family Business |
|---|---|
| Industry | High street retail |
| Founded | York, England (1971) |
| Founder(s) | Catherine Paver |
| Headquarters | York, England |
| Number of locations | 75 shops (2008) |
| Area served | Republic of Ireland |
| Products | Footwear |
| Revenue | £65,000,000 (2008 estimated)[1] |
| Employees | 500 (2007) |
| Website | www.pavers.co.uk |
Pavers ltd, better known as Pavers Shoes is a family owned footwear business operating in the UK and Ireland. Pavers currently has 70 stores across UK and Ireland all fulfilled from their head office in York.
Pavers was established by Catherine Paver in 1971 with a £300 bank loan. Initially, organising shoe parties with clearance stock from the catalogues, the first shop was opened in Scarborough with stores in York, Hull and Newcastle following.[2]
The first outlet store was opened in 1996 at the Royal Quays outlet centre in North Shields. Ten years later, the company has outlet stores stretching from Loch Lomond in Scotland to Trerulefoot in the South West.[3]
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Pavers continues to be a family run Business with two of Cathy's three sons running the Business. Stuart Paver MD and Ian Paver, outlet buying director. Graham Paver (formally Logistics Director) has recently retired.
Stuart, along with Middlesbrough based Steve Cochrane, owner of the Psyche department store setup a sister company in 2000 - shoe-shop.com to sell footwear online.[4]
Cathy Paver was awarded a lifetime achievement award by her peers at the 2007 Drapers Footwear awards[5] - an accolade that left her speechless, 36 years after first starting the company.
Pavers support several UK and international charities.[6] In 2006 through a limited edition shoe design, they raised £45,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care.[7]
For the past 10 years, the company has been involved with sponsoring and supporting children in the third world. Currently, Pavers is sponsoring three children through Compassion International - Ilboudo Djeneba, Allan Njenga and Sangeetha.[8]
On 9 April 2008, Pavers announced the opening of their new business Pavers England Footprints Limited in Chennai, India[9]
Pavers England Footprints Limited (PEFL) is a joint venture between Pavers ltd and Foresight Group. At a press launch, Pavers revealed they expect a sales turnover of $10 million.
As part of the project, Pavers have announced they will commission a $3 million footwear design studio in Chennai.[10]
On 6 April 2011, Pavers launched PaversShoes.tv, a 24-hour TV footwear shopping channel, on Sky channel 659.[11] The company forecasts it will increase total sales by 20 per cent, by aiding both sales and brand awareness, adding about £10 million to Pavers’ annual turnover.