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History of the Arcadia site

At its height, the factory was the largest employer in Leeds, employing 10,500 people and producing 30,000 suits per week, before its decline in the late 1960s.

The factory was established by Sir Montague Burton in 1921. Sir Montague founded the Burton and Burton tailoring chain and oversaw the growth of the business from the Hudson Road factory. Leeds was chosen as the location for the business due to its status as the centre of Britain’s textile industry at the time and provided access to a local skilled workforce of specialist tailors and machinists.

Burton’s provided healthcare and amenities for factory workers, including on-site dental care, opticians and physiotherapy, as well as football and rugby pitches, a boxing gym and an amateur dramatics society. This would have made it a central hub for the whole community.

“Burton made every effort to keep his staff happy - Hudson Road had the largest works canteen in the world, along with a pre-welfare state health and pension scheme.”

“Free dentists, chiropodists and even sun-ray treatment were provided for factory staff.”

“The factory was described by a former tailor, Sam Bernstein, as “a town in itself”

By the late 1950s the workforce had declined to 5,000 and in the 1970’s manufacturing on site stopped.  The Burton Group was renamed the Arcadia Group in 1998.  

In 2002, Philip Green acquired Arcadia Group, becoming the first sole owner of the factory since Sir Montague himself. Despite Boohoo buying the Burton brand out of administration in 2020, the Leeds facility closed in 2021. Avant Homes bought the site in 2022 and a variety of tenants use about 20% of the factory buildings.

We will respect this heritage with a range of sensitive interventions throughout the redevelopment of the scheme:

  • Our proposals aim to retain the existing southern and northern period façades that provide a focus for the historic use of the site while creating a modern and bespoke development. 
  • The design of the new buildings will pay tribute to the 1930s art deco style of the historical façades on Hudson Road through contemporary reinterpretation. 
  • We will use the existing architecture to influence the modern design on-site, including the use of monochromatic materials, a Leeds-centric colour scheme, the incorporation of  street names reflecting the site’s historic use, and industrial style design choices. 
  • We also plan to pay tribute to iconic features such as the existing sawtooth roof-scape and solid gable ends through our contemporary reimagining of the site.