A writer is keen to hear the stories of former Grattan workers as he puts together a history of the company to celebrate its centenary year.

The mail order giant, formed in 1912, has commissioned writer Colin Ward to produce a complete history of the company for next year.

Mr Ward, who lives in West Scholes, Bradford, is now looking to speak to former workers of the business as well as find a copy of a history of the company written by an employee but never published.

He said: “If anybody has got any stories they want to pass on to me about their time at Grattan I would be delighted to hear from them.

“And I’m very keen on finding a copy of The Grattan Story, which was written by a member of staff some time ago, but never published.

“It may be there’s only one copy, but at the moment I can’t track it down and there were some splendid stories in there about the early days in the 1920s and 30s.”

The company was set up by John Enrico Fattorini after he fell out with his cousin while working at Empire Stores.

Mr Ward said: “They worked in the marketing department of Empire Stores, which was a relatively new company and John Enrico Fattorini was quite a head-strong character.

“He was determined his company was going to be successful and he went on his own to set up Grattan.

“All the way through the 1920s, 40s and 50s we have got Empire Stores, which was owned by one half of the Fattorini family, and Grattan, which was the other half, and between them were massive in the mail order catalogue business in the UK.

“One of the big things about Grattan is in Bradford, if you talk to anybody who worked there any they will say it’s a family company.

“It’s a very important place in the hearts of the people living and working in Bradford.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Mr Ward on colin@historywriter.co.uk or visit historywriter.co.uk