Great businesses grew up in the city as entrepreneurs went on to make fortunes

Aug 28 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

LITTLEWOODS

FOUNDER John Moores, later Sir John, started his business empire in Church Street in the 1920s with just £50 of savings, beginning with the now famous football pools operation.

It lost hundreds of pounds in the first two years but by the end of the decade it was in profit and in 1932 he handed over control to his brother Cecil and diversified into selling goods by mail order.

High street stores followed and post-war the group enjoyed strong growth. Sir John became a leading philanthropist, using his wealth to support charities and the arts as well as becoming chairman of Everton Football Club.

In 1994, a year after Sir John died, the National Lottery was launched and the pools went into decline. It was bought by Sportech for £161m in 2000 and in October 2002 the rest of the Littlewoods empire was sold to the Barclay brothers in a £750m deal.

RATHBONE BROTHERS

DATING back to 1742, the Rathbone family business started out as a timber and shipping operation and over the years gradually grew into a successful international merchanting and commission business.

It traded commodities such as cotton, timber, salt, iron bars, linen, leather, tobacco, tallow, wheat, rye and rice with Europe, America and the West Indies.

The business grew throughout the 18th century although the family steadfastly refused to have anything to do with the slave trade.

In 1809 William Rathbone V and his brother Richard established the firm that would eventually become Rathbone Brothers. William, a great social reformer, grew the firm with the help of his sons until it eventually became the biggest importer of tea into the UK.

But increased competition forced the firm to switch to financial services in the early 20th century. It now provides investment management for wealthy individuals, employing 750 people in Liverpool and London.

BIBBY LINE

IN 1801, at the age of just 26, Ormskirk-born John Bibby set up his shipbroking company Bibby & Hall with William Hall.

In 1805 he formed another partnership with John Highfield, trading under the name John Bibby & Company. He named the company’s first ship after his wife, Mary Margaret Mellard, an enthusiastic supporter of the business.

By 1836, the company’s 18 ships were ferrying goods across the globe. But in 1840 tragedy struck when John Bibby was beaten by muggers in the city and thrown into a pond, where he drowned.

His four sons took over and the firm was renamed John Bibby & Sons and its size and reputation continued to grow through the 18th and 19th centuries and into the 20th and by the 1930s its fleet comprised both steam and motorships and it had changed its name to Bibby Line.

Nowadays, the company is as successful as ever and has diversified into debt factoring, contract logistics and distribution and shallow water accommodation units.

ROYAL LIVER ASSURANCE

THE Liverpool Burial Society was formed at the Lyver Inn on July 24, 1850, with the aim of providing decent funding for its members.

The society was a godsend for the city’s poor and destitute population who made little provision for their passing. By 1857 the operation had expanded to other parts of the UK and by the end of the 19th century a decision was taken to build a new headquarters in Liverpool. That building, of course, was the now world-famous Royal Liver Building, which was officially opened on July 19, 1911.

The business eventually became known as Royal Liver Assurance. It now employs more than 2,500 people, including around 500 at its Liverpool head office, still in the Royal Liver Building.