Keddies

At 16 he moved to Auchtermuchty in Scotland to work as an apprentice at his Uncle, John Keddie's drapery store, but in 1879 he returned to Suffolk and married Laura Fletcher.

In the middle of 1906, The Record published pictures of what it considered to be the best British window displays and Keddies was regularly featured.

[6] This included a mechanical window display designed by Arthur Maitland Keddie which was observed in US publication Style in 1908.

[10] During the First World War, Arthur Maitland Keddie organised day trips for wounded soldiers from the Queen Mary Naval Hospital to Thundersley and Runwell.

[3][15][16][17] The new store had 15 aisles and 15,000 Square foot, and in the first Saturday of its doors opening, they had to be closed after just a quarter of an hour due to the size of the crowd.

The development was completed by Norwich Union[22][23] included an office block called Maitland House (after the Keddie's family name), and a parking lot which was all designed by the modernist architects Yorke Rosenberg Mardall, in what was the first building to feature their ubiquitous white tile styling.

[23] Yorke Rosenberg Mardall were again employed when the store was planned to be extended on the site of the old National Provincial Bank in 1973.

[22] The business further grew in the 1970s opening branches in Romford, after purchasing the site from the Hammerson group,[34][35] and Stratford High Street (former Boardmans store).

The modernisation attracted chain stores HMV,[40] Tie Rack, Olympus Sports,[41] Dillons the Bookstore[42] and Cramphorn Garden Centres to open departments.

[3] The building was bought by developers, who wanted to rebuild behind the 1930s High Street fascia; however they found that frontage had been badly damaged by the addition of the slats in the 60s.

[3] The rear of the building facing Warrior Square was empty until the early 2000s[44] when it was converted into a Travelodge, bar and restaurant and a nightclub.