Richard Tompkins

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Not to be confused with British journalist Richard Tomkins.

Granville Richard Francis Tompkins CBE (15 May 1918 – 6 December 1992) was a print, advertising and retail entrepreneur, best known for founding the Green Shield Stamps company, as well as the Argos chain of catalogue stores which became one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Career

Richard Tompkins was born in Islington, London, and worked as an engineering draughtsman during the Second World War, before founding his first printing business in 1945.^[1]^[2]

On holiday in Chicago in the 1950s, Tompkins witnessed the success of S&H Green Stamps, and founded the Green Shield Stamp Trading Company in the United Kingdom ^[1]

In 1973, he adapted the format of his Green Shield catalogue shops, used for redeeming trading stamp books, and founded Argos, a catalogue store chain that took cash. Though independent, Argos operations were closely linked to Green Shield Stamps, and Argos was sold in 1979 to BAT Industries for £35 million.^[1] Tompkins died of cancer in 1992 in Westminster, a year after the stamps were withdrawn, and the same year he was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).^[1]

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Richard Davenport-Hines (2004). "Tompkins, (Granville) Richard Francis (1918–1992)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
↑ "TOMPKINS, (Granville) Richard (Francis)". Who Was Who 1897-2007, CredoReference. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.

Persondata
Name	Tompkins, Richard
Alternative names
Short description	Founder of Argos and Green Shield Stamps
Date of birth	15 May 1918
Place of birth	Upper Holloway, London
Date of death	6 December 1992
Place of death	Westminster, London

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