Family-run Yorkshire business, H.E. Payne & Sons Ltd, to close
H.E. Payne & Sons Ltd, in High Street, Dodworth, Barnsley is to close its doors. The family-run company has been open for 100 years. Jonathan Gawthorpe spoke with Managing Director Natalie Parks about the history of the business.
Transcript
00:00 Hi I'm Natalie Parks, I'm Managing Director here at H.E. Pearsons Ltd in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
00:05 We are a 100 year old business specialising in the retail and repair of superior footwear.
00:10 100 years ago my great-grandfather Edgar moved from Northampton where he was a shoemaker for
00:17 Grensons. He started the business in his back garden, he used to bring a horse and car every
00:23 Friday with 100 repairs for him from the soldiers boots. He used to mend those and then the week
00:29 after they'd pick them up bring another 100. He used to do the clogs for the miners and then in
00:35 1950 we moved to a bigger premises about four doors down. My granddad took over and then my uncle
00:43 and now it's me and my brother so we're the fourth generation.
00:46 And you have some quite famous people that come and buy shoes. Yeah we do yeah and we've got a
00:54 lot of customers for repairs as well so we've had like Sister Sledge in, Stephanie Hurst is a regular
00:59 customer of ours as well. Football players from Barnsley, from Leeds. Yeah we've had quite a few in
01:05 bands of players as well. Our postal repair service for little Vuittons and Valentinos is just
01:12 crazy we can't keep up with that side of the business. Yeah we've had so many different
01:19 customers in over the years, Dickie Bird, Scar Girl, yeah it's crazy.