M&S archive under-way
Construction of the new Marks & Spencer Company Archive building officially started this summer when M&S chairman Sir Stuart Rose and University Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Arthur cut the turf and buried a time capsule on the site.
Items in the lead box included M&S Percy Pig sweets, lingerie and ‘Fresh Feet’ socks, whilst the University contributed photos of the campus and a pewter tankard. Children from nearby Little London Primary School added pictures showing how shopping and university may look many years from now.
The new Michael Marks building – named after the man who founded the company in Leeds – will house the M&S Company Archive and a University bookstore. It is situated on the Western Campus, near the Leeds University Business School.
Also at the ceremony was Josie Freear, who is being sponsored by M&S to undertake a PhD in the School of History on the social history of food. Josie will use the rich resources of the M&S Company Archive and the valuable sets of cookery writings stored in the Special Collections of the Brotherton Library.
Image caption: (l-r): the Vice-Chancellor, Josie Freear and Sir Stuart Rose.
