We’re delighted to be hosting a PhD researcher focusing on Flora Solomon, Head of Employee Welfare at M&S from 1932.

PhD researcher Nick Bailey has begun a research project focusing on Flora Solomon, Head of Employee Welfare at M&S from 1932 onwards. Flora established M&S’s innovative staff welfare programme from scratch, from subsidised health care and pensions to social clubs and holidays.

What impact did this have on M&S’s mainly female workforce? And how did it influence M&S’s business performance? Nick will be conducting in-depth research within our archive papers, staff manuals and company reports to find out.

The project covers topics such as gender, employee welfare and British Social History during the interwar period; areas that we know are of interest to visitors in our exhibition and to learners of all ages through our Learning Programme and Reading Room services.

Nick is undertaking a PhD at the University of Leeds and working with him is a fantastic opportunity for the Archive team to benefit from his research expertise and his knowledge of the wider business landscape of the interwar period.

This is a Researcher Employability Project funded by the White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities.

The project runs until the end of March and Nick’s work will help M&S to gain new insight into its long-standing commitment to caring for colleagues. His research will also be shared with the wider public through a new online exhibition which will be hosted here on the M&S Archive website, so watch this space!