E & A Wates and London Metropolitan University Special Collections

Summary

London Metropolitan University Special Collections worked with Lambeth-based family-run business E & A Wates to ensure the preservation of the company’s archives. In late 2020 Roger Wates, Managing Director, approached the University to discuss the possibility of depositing the collection, as he had been aware of the University’s strong focus on the British furnishing industry.

Due to the unprecedented circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the business closed its doors on 21 May 2021. The University then had a short deadline to work towards safeguarding the collection as the premises housing it were soon to be sold. Following the successful transfer of the material, the University appraised and catalogued the collection. It is now accessible to students and researchers, and its use is becoming embedded in teaching furniture making and design.

Throughout the project, the University has cultivated a relationship with Roger Wates, who continues to participate in engagement alongside the University to share awareness of the collection, its value, and his knowledge. Speaking about the business and the potential of the archive, he said:

“A family business that traded for 121 years, rooted in one part of South London and focused of furniture, interiors, restoration and removals is a rarity. By understanding our evolution, the surviving of world wars and depressions, our growth, expansion and achievements, students can identify with the decisions taken along the way which reflected the taste in design, demand, marketing and presentation to appeal to local and national markets.”

Roger Wates, Former Managing Director E & A Wates Ltd

Challenges and opportunities

E & A Wates was established in 1900 by brothers Edward and Arthur Wates. More than 120 years later the retail furnishing and interior design business had grown from one store to three and diversified multiple times, most recently in 1993 with the purchase of the JT Grosse restoration business.

Following the initial approach by Roger Wates, the Special Collections team started to draw-up plans to visit the business, undertake a survey of the material, and follow-up with visits to review and sort the material. However, after the sudden closure of the business, the premises were quickly sold for residential development, requiring the site to be vacated. The Special Collections team faced an imminent deadline to rescue the material to avoid it being lost.

A successful application to The National Archives Covid-19 Archives Fund enabled Special Collections staff to save the collection. This funding covered the costs of transporting the collection to London Metropolitan University and the purchase of archive boxes to re-house the material.

The foreshortening of timescales, combined with pandemic restrictions, meant that instead of reviewing and appraising the material in-situ all the material was transferred to London Metropolitan University Special Collections. Staff then began the process of review and appraisal. Given the large quantity of administrative records, the decision was taken in consultation with Roger Wates to retain a selection of the material by adopting a sampling technique (preserving a representative sample of the records), so that researching prices and purchasing trends over time would still be possible. Work commenced in May 2022 to catalogue the 190 boxes of material comprising the collection.

The archive, which is a rich resource for design, business and social history, was made available to researchers and the catalogue was made accessible online in January 2023. It captures the changing tastes of the company’s clientele and changing fashions in both domestic and corporate settings. As well as providing a detailed view of how a family-run business operated, the collection features advertisements from 1902, stock records from 1922, furniture brochures and a large quantity of modern fabric and wallpaper samples.

 

Outcomes

London Metropolitan University offers a number of courses in furniture making, interior design and furniture restoration. The Special Collections team support students from a broad range of disciplines including art and design, textiles, creative writing, visual communications, business studies, marketing and advertising. The archive of E & A Wates was therefore a natural fit for the University’s Special Collections, as it already holds the company archive of Frederick Parker & Sons Ltd (later Parker Knoll) and the London College of Furniture archive.

“I believe that the E & A Wates archive collection will have a positive impact on our archive service as well as within the wider GLAMA (Gallery, Library, Archive, Museum and Academic) sector. It will make this extraordinary collection available for the very first time to diverse audiences within academia, the furniture industry community, business sector and beyond.”
Don MacRaild, Pro Vice-Chancellor: Research & Knowledge Exchange

As well as the E & A Wates collection bringing further depth and breadth to the University’s holdings, the collection is already being utilised to enhance teaching. The fabric sample books featured in a session organised for fashion students:

“The materials selection along with the design allowed me to see how texture and materials can be used to elevate the design work. It’s not the same looking at samples on a screen compared to looking at the samples in person, and my visits to the archive broadened my knowledge of the different ways that interior textile collections are curated.”

Final year student, London Met, B.A. (Hons) Textiles

What was learned from the process?

Roger Wates was able to supply crucial context about how the business worked and how they distinguished between clients (invoices) and suppliers (orders). Speaking about the work and the relationship with the depositor, Peter Fisher, a member of the Special Collections team, reflected that:

“The [Covid-19 Archives Fund] grant not only facilitated the process of capturing the essence of this long-established, family-run retail business, but it has also afforded us the privilege of working with a depositor of incomparable enthusiasm and strong commitment to education.”

Peter and Roger Wates recorded a webinar – In conversation with Roger Wates – in March 2024 to talk about the collection and their working relationship as part of the service’s outreach programme.

Key advice

There was a need to recognise in the excitement about the archive that, for Roger and other family members, there was an understandably strong emotional attachment – this collection is also about multiple generations of their family.

There was no surprise when Roger asked about retaining some of the pre-1945 records, including family papers and photograph albums, whilst he writes a book about the business. There is a firm commitment for this material to be united with the items already deposited at London Metropolitan University.

The Special Collections team knew that this collection, alongside others such as that of Frederick Parker & Sons Ltd, would be able to enhance their work to support the University’s teaching and research activities, demonstrating the contribution of Special Collections to the University’s strategic objective of student success.

They have found that inviting specific lecturers and undergraduate cohorts to work with particular collections has forged strong connections, embedding collaboration in a number of courses. For example, students of graphic design, visual communications and illustration/animation have recently engaged on an Anti-Apartheid project, using material held by the TUC Library Collections, and the Frederick Parker furniture collection and archive have served as inspiration for individual and project work across the School of Art, Design and Architecture.

How will this work be developed in the future?

Having been based on Mitcham Lane in Streatham for 120 years, the business is also part of Lambeth’s history and it is hoped that London Metropolitan University Special Collections, Lambeth Archives and Roger Wates can collaborate to produce a learning resource.

A second phase of work will follow the deposit of the pre-1945 material. When Roger Wates’ book is published it will also increase awareness and interest in the family and the business.

Find out more

Contact specialcollections@londonmet.ac.uk

Further information regarding the University’s Special Collections may be found by accessing the collections catalogue

Relevant resources

The National Archives’ Records at Risk grants guidance

The National Archives’ guidance on options for managing business archives