Foyles was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest bookshop in terms of shelf length, at 30 miles (48 km), and of the number of titles on display.

[5] Flushed with success, they opened a small shop on Station Parade in Queen's Road, Peckham, where they painted "With all Faith" in gilt letters above the door.

[citation needed] By 1910, Foyles had added four suburban branches: at Harringay, Shepherd's Bush, Kilburn and Brixton.

[7][8] Not long afterward,[clarification needed] the brothers moved their central London store to 119 Charing Cross Road, the Foyles Building, where it remained until 2014.

[9] For a time the store included premises at 121–125 Charing Cross Road, on the north side of the junction with Manette Street.

[10] Christina Foyle, daughter of co-founder William, initiated literary luncheons at the Charing Cross Road premises in October 1930; these continue to the present day.

[11] Speakers and guests of honour at these luncheons have included great literary figures, and celebrities from the world of politics, the media, the military and the theatre.

He is also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and a Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Essex.

[16] The feminist Silver Moon Bookshop was incorporated into Foyles in 2001 after rising rents on its Charing Cross Road premises forced it to close.

The following year the chain was awarded a concession to run the book departments in Selfridges' London Oxford Street and Manchester stores, but these closed in February 2009.

In February 2008 it opened the only bookshop in St Pancras railway station, which had been refurbished to include the Eurostar London terminal.

It acquired premises at 107 Charing Cross Road, formerly occupied by the Central St Martins College of Art and Design.