Reading: Frasers celebrates 90 years of service

After completing his service as a sergeant engineer in the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, Arthur Fraser set up a new business, Frasers Typewriters in 1919, selling and repairing typewriters which were then the latest technology. He started with a kit of tools that cost him £2.00 and his first premises were situated in Queen Victoria Street in Reading with a rent of 10 shillings a week.

Frasers Typewriters managed to endure through very difficult times in the Second World War. Arthur noted in his diary that in the last few years of the war business was “the worst he had experienced” as there “were no typewriters to sell”. Moreover, on March 10, 1943 he recounted that Reading was bombed and 46 typewriters sustained damage and needed repair. Like many businesses during that time, staff of the right age had joined up to fight and so Frasers was short of engineers. Despite this Arthur said “46 typewriters blitzed, 46 typewriters returned – Hitler failed to beat us.”
 

Arthur also stated in his diary that the business could “with luck last 100 years”, so it probably would come as no surprise to him that his business is still going strong today albeit in the slightly different guise of Frasers Office Supplies Ltd. Frasers has always been a family-run company. Once Arthur stopped working at the sprightly age of 94 his son Gerald took over the reins. Although Gerald had started in the business at the age of 14 in 1934 and spent all of his working life in the business, he was in the army for the duration of the Second World War. Gerald’s son Peter followed in his father’s footsteps to take over the running of the family firm and currently it is Alan Fraser who is in charge. Thus four generations of Fraser have been involved in the business.
Arthur probably could not have envisaged how business has changed over the last 90 years. In order to keep the company successful it was necessary to move with the times and diversify in the 1980s. This important decision was made by Peter Fraser who switched the company’s main focus from typewriters to office supplies. So now Frasers can supply other businesses in the Thames Valley with all their office needs, from what you might expect: paper, stationery, computer consumables, office furniture, business machines and printed material, to the more unexpected but possibly just as essential, coffee and teabags!

The success of the business, Arthur believed, was largely due to the hard-working, long-serving staff and loyal customer base that Frasers enjoyed. Alan, the current managing director, echoes that sentiment and says: “Frasers is not just a family-run business, it is very much a Reading business, employing local people.”

Nick Clark, sales director, has worked for the company for 24 years and his grandfather worked for Frasers Typewriters before him for over 53 years. The longest serving member of staff currently is Pete Emmens who has been an employee since 1976!

Frasers official birthday was July 1, 2009. Alan and the rest of the staff at Frasers wanted to mark this momentous occasion because not many businesses can say they are 90 years old. As a result they are running a series of promotional offers and a fun quiz themed “Through the Ages” for their customers. With every offer sold and every quiz completed Frasers will donate money to The Duchess of Kent Trust. They hope to raise £1919 by September and a cheque will be presented to George Solly, fundraising manager, on September 4.

You can help Frasers achieve their goal by taking part in the quiz which can be found on the website www.frasersoffice.co.uk

From the £2 start up costs in 1919 Frasers has blossomed into a very successful local enterprise, with an annual turnover of approximately £2.5 million.

Arthur’s theory on life was, “to be successful you have to be optimistic” and luckily optimism runs in the Fraser family; Alan acknowledges: “These are very difficult economic times, but as a business, if you keep doing what you are good at, strong companies will survive and prosper. Even in these hard times Frasers has increased its turnover this year by 5%.”

So here’s wishing Frasers another 90 years of success.