In 2016, Joe Garner became CEO of Nationwide Building Society. He wanted to make the most of the organisation’s unique heritage and he set in train the hiring of their first professional archivist to rediscover Nationwide’s history and founding purpose and enable Nationwide’s archive and heritage to become a corporate asset.
The Beecham Group, one of GSK’s major predecessors and a historic business in St Helens, Merseyside, gave its archive to the local council in 1994 when the site there closed. In 2018, GSK re-visited its arrangement with St Helens Archive Service. A formal gift agreement had not been signed at the time of donation, so GSK had inherited the rights to the material. GSK agreed that St Helens Archive Service should keep the physical collection, with both parties establishing a mutually beneficial partnership.
During the First and Second World Wars, 1,192 Midland Bank (now HSBC UK) employees lost their lives. To commemorate them, the bank erected two memorials at their London headquarters listing the names of fallen staff.
In October 2012, Corporate Archives took custody of the transportation records from the London 2012 Olympic Games. 70% of this new collection consists of digital files. TfL did not have a system that could accommodate the size of digital records. A specification was developed – the best option for TfL’s needs was to purchase specialist software that could offer a Cloud-based digital preservation system.In 2015, TfL partnered with Preservica, digital archive software provider. By 2018, the digital preservation system was operational. The TfL archive team finalised the processes and procedures for ongoing digital preservation.
The John Lewis and Partners’ Home Design Studio drew inspiration from historical designs and patterns in the John Lewis textile archive to develop new prints for their Spring Summer 2021 Home collection.
Letters Live has, since December 2013, been a live celebration of the enduring power of literary correspondence. Each show always features a completely different array of great performers, reading remarkable letters from all around the world and through the ages.
Working in collaboration with London Metropolitan Archives, the regional archives for London run by the City of London Corporation, the owners of Bogle-L’Ouverture loaned their extensive publishing archive to be preserved for posterity within public sector archives.
To launch Johnnie Walker Blue Label King George V as a premium brand in the Spanish market. To illustrate and underpin the provenance, heritage and “luxury” status of the new brand, the archive team need to participate in a series of high profile media briefings and launch events, using original archives and artefacts to tell the story of the new brand.
A series of heritage panels conveying the Group's key values on display at a Lloyds Banking Group office. Image courtesy of Lloyds Banking Group Archives.
Colleague advocacy and engagement; Corporate identity
Lloyds Banking Group was formed in 2009, following the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB. Group Property, in consultation with Group Archives, undertook to create a series of graphics for display in high-profile office sites, charting the history of the new Group and communicating its core values. The graphics would consist of a timeline, representing the history of the main brands, and a series of values panels, demonstrating the five key values of the Group.
To develop materials to support multi-tiered induction programmes for head office staff, fast-track graduates, pharmacists, warehousing and stores staff ensuring they assimilate key company values and an appreciation of the company’s history and business culture, and corporate social responsibility achievements.
To support a public media campaign by BT Health promoting the company’s long standing relationship with the National Health Service in providing communications products and services to improve patient services. The campaign coincided with the 60th anniversary of the NHS in July 2008.
To produce a new global brand, a “modern beauty classic”, that has the authentic look and feel of a 1920s beauty product range in terms of formulation (traditional ingredients) and merchandising (vintage packaging, nomenclature and style). Collaboration between archives and product development teams needs to deliver authenticity and integrity in product identity, without compromising quality or efficacy.
To create a ‘hot product’ for the 2009 season’s men’s fashion collection by drawing inspiration from vintage designs and patterns in the John Lewis textile archive.
To support Coutts’ 2010 sponsorship of London Fashion Week by highlighting historical connections with clothing, fabrics and fashion-related trades such as dressmaking and tailoring. Coutts sponsored a new designer, Louise Goldin, to design a dress. This was made of 100-year-old paper and the archives were asked to provide background on how paper had featured in the banks 300-year history.
Working in collaboration with designer Thomas Heatherwick Studio, the company archives team was tasked with creating an art installation for the foyer of HSBC’s Foster and Associates head office building at Canary Wharf.
To introduce records and archive management principles to the capture and preservation of bbc.co.uk (originally BBC Online) ensuring that web design, content and user experience are kept as records of past broadcasts; fulfilling legal and cultural obligations as public service broadcaster; supporting research and reuse.
To give access to the iron and steel industrial heritage of Teesside held in the archives of the British Steel Corporation by transferring the records to public ownership in a collaborative venture with the University of Teesside and Teesside Archives.
In 2005 John Lewis appointed architects to design and build a flagship store in Leicester city centre as part of a major development project to regenerate the city centre. The design brief was to create a unique and dramatic frontage for the new store reflecting the identity of the city of Leicester, which has a long and significant heritage in the design and production of textiles.