Henry J Ryman opened his first store as a book printer on Great Portland Street, London in 1893, that is still open today. Quickly changing the focus to selling stationery, the business was successfully owned and managed by the Ryman family for several generations. Jack Ryman succeeded Henry in 1931, until he passed it on to his own sons, Desmond and Nicholas, in 1951. At the time that Desmond and Nicholas assumed control from father, the company comprised eleven shops. Expansion followed, along with the introduction of self-service counters and during their ownership, turnover rose from £250,000 to £16 million. Upon selling the company, Nicholas moved to France to become a vigneron. From 1912 to 1995, the business traded as H. J. Ryman Retail Limited. In 1968, Ryman merged with the furniture retailer Habitat to form Conran Ryman. The following year they purchased the business of Lupton Morton, who mostly supplied furniture to offices and corporations but also made pieces by other designers, and in 1970, acquired the retail chain Straker-Bedser. By 1970, the turnover of the group had doubled since the merger with Habitat. Terence Conran however was disappointed that Habitat itself had not been expanded and offered to purchase Habitat from Conran Ryman along with Conran Associates and the remains of Lupton Morton. Conran Ryman who did not highly value the Habitat chain and apparently thought it was making a loss agreed to the sale. Conran Ryman retained Habitat's original factory in Thetford along with Conran Design Group. In 1972, the Ryman brothers sold Conran Ryman to the Burton Group for £8 million. Rodney Fitch bought out Conran Design Group, renaming it Fitch & Company in the same year. During the 1970s and 1980s the business passed through several different owners, including Jennifer d'Abo, who purchased the chain in 1981 and floated it on the Stock Exchange in 1986, and Pentos plc who took the company private again for £20 million in 1987. After a share suspension, Ryman parent company Pentos plc collapsed into receivership in March 1995. Despite interest from former owner Jennifer d'Abo and firm bids from a team of Ryman franchisees, backed by 3i, receivers KPMG struggled to generate interest in the company due to the high rents being paid by the company's high street premises.
Theo Paphitis
had been involved in the Ryman business since 1994, having had NAG Telecom concessions in larger Ryman stores. He developed a relationship with the then marketing director; Malcolm Cooke and this eventually led to Paphitis purchasing Ryman from the receivers in March 1995. The purchase was made through Chancerealm Ltd. In 1996, the Ryman Direct mail order catalogue was introduced, followed by a website in 1998. To build a national chain, in the United Kingdom, in September 2001, the group acquired the stationery retailer Partners with 86 stores, and in February 2007, purchased 61 stores of Stationery Box. The businesses and all stores were combined under a redesigned Ryman brand in October 2008, which presently comprises 210 stores with a turnover of more than £125m. In October 2016, the Theo Paphitis Retail Group purchased specialist stationery retailer London Graphics Centre, which was founded in 1973.
Products
Ryman was the first stationer to introduce the concept of colour to filing, with both cabinets and folders. Today, Ryman Stationery stock a wide range of inkjet cartridges, printers, pens, paper, envelopes, office essentials, filing, presentation materials, diaries and Back to School Supplies.
Ryman is an official partner of Comic Relief, raising over £5million for the charity through the sale of exclusive Comic Relief pens in its shops and online, as well as other fundraising activities.
