A History of C&H fabrics

The company was started on 1^st April 1933 by C.W. Hamblin, the father of Mr. Barry, and Mr. Keith Hamblin , and grandfather of Bryce and Bryan Hamblin, the present Managing Directors.
He immediately invited his former partner, H. E. Closs, to join him, and another old crusader, W. E. Neville as Secretary of the company. Although H. E. Closs was to suffer ill health, and die in 1950, C. W. Hamblin survived until 1980, despite injury to his health during the 1914-1918 war, in France.

The early shops were small affairs, by our present standards, and they sold only dress fabrics, but they did the job well. There were a great variety of fabrics, at keen prices, and they all believed in giving first-class service to customers, which led to the business prospering, and the number of stores increased to six by the time the war began in 1939. The next six years were to be tough for everybody, including C&H fabrics. Bombs blew out shop windows, which could not be replaced, and stock could seldom be bought.
Few could buy, because of rationing, and staffing was reduced from around 200, to under 20, as people left to join the armed forces, or work in munitions factories.

Barry Hamblin, the Company President, had joined the company in 1938, but most of his first seven years were spent flying Spitfires, or out of the country. Keith Hamblin, the Company Chairman, joined the company after the Services, in 1949. Together they directed the company through the 50's, 60's, and 70's.

After The War, a slow, steady rebuilding of the company took place.
A substantial element of this period was the freehold purchase of prime high-street sites in Tunbridge Wells, Guildford, and Eastbourne, and a Head Office in Tunbridge Wells. These were the asset base for the present company.

New stores were opened in Tunbridge Wells, Guildford, Bromley, Eastbourne, Brighton and Maidstone to supplement those in Ilford, Watford, Kilburn, Lewisham, and Croydon.

The next major stage of development came with the decision to expand to two new product centres. These required the establishment of three central buying teams. Dress Fabrics under Bryce Hamblin, later supported by Margaret Hall, and now David Woodley; Haberdashery, Crafts, and Yarns, under Shirley Hamblin, later supported by Jim Bannister, and now Nicola Fletcher; and Furnishing Fabrics under Bryan Hamblin and Paul Wilmarsh.

As with Dress Fabrics, C&H set out to become the main specialist in the products it sold. This was accomplished by....

Having stocks carried in depth, in store.
Knowledgeable staff.
Good display and presentation.
The introduction of services to support the products.
Teams of Makers, Fitters, Measurers, to make quality curtains to high technical standards.

The development of the product range required bigger units. New stores were opened in Ilford, Brighton, Canterbury, Eastbourne, and Winchester; Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, respectively, were doubled and tripled in square footage. The customers in the 1970's and 1980's wanted substantial specialist stores; it was in these units, of up to 22,000 sq. ft. that C&H could dominate the towns in their areas of the market place. The older, former, 2,000 sq. ft. units of the London suburbs were exchanged for large, prime, sites in County Towns.

With the store size growth has come a greater sophistication and development of the head office team. A personnel team, headed by Mr. Bryce Hamblin, later supported by Pat Chesney, has moved the company substantially forward through a Company Manual, through agreement of operating standards, and a highly developed commitment to training.
Computers were purchased for a major bought ledger operation, for personnel details, and management of a staff of 400, and for the production of artwork for ticketing and advertising.
In 1995 EPOS was introduced, and by mid 1996 all stores were 'live' on the system. A large percentage of our stock is now replenished electronically and we have also introduced a company-wide email system.
Essentially C&H is a family business that has moved with the times. During 1990 Dennis Favish was appointed Director of Finance.
We have a management team keen to expand the Company into the market place of the 21^st century. This web site shows our commitment to technology.

The Future

We believe that C&H has found a specialist niche in the market place. A niche that multiples shun, because of the complexities of the product, because the products do not conform to the unit sale approach, and because the selling of them requires specialist skills and enthusiasm.

Crafts, yarns, dress fabrics, curtain fabric meterage and curtain making, net curtains, and specialist upholstery require a particular type of retailing environment. C&H are confident that their mixture of these products creates a highly viable base for future expansion in the High Street. This is retailing of image, service, display, presentation, and stock range. They are products of colour, feel, excitement, and fashion. It requires terrific attention to detail, and the ability to combine a high degree of management skill, with in-depth product knowledge necessary in specialist retailing.

Our hope is to exploit this niche in more of the County Towns of the South, while refitting, and modernising, our existing stores on a regular basis.

Our trade is heavily labour intensive. The strength of the Company is in its members, in their attitudes, specialist knowledge, and commitment. A retail company is judged daily by customers on how well every member, in every store, performs. We are certainly fortunate that so many who join the Company, stay for so long.