Lives in Cricket No 19 - Frank Sugg

recalled being told of the bailiffs arriving at the family home and Frank’s daughters secreting in their clothing some of his more valuable glassware. The collapse of his sports business did not mean that Frank Sugg personally was bankrupt – the fate which befell his rival, Edgar Jay, when the Philip Mead Bat Company went under – but he did lose his remaining investment in the company and any prospect of future income from that source. It is worth adding a short comment on the fortunes of HHB Sugg Ltd, a separate business, though many people have assumed that it was the original business founded by Frank and Walter in 1888 in a different corporate guise. After the initial purchase of shops from Frank Sugg Ltd, the Sheffield-based firm expanded and opened additional branches in the area. Ultimately HHB Sugg Ltd had 11 branches, making it a larger business, in branch numbers, than Frank Sugg Ltd ever was. It was, indeed, one of the largest sports goods companies in the country. The Second World War brought disaster. The Snig Hill branch, and another at Angel Street in Sheffield, were bombed in the Sheffield blitz of December 1941. New premises were found after the war in Pinstone Street, which became the headquarters and flagship store of the company, and Castle Street. As the economy recovered and a consumer boom followed the austerity years, the business prospered. It diversified from sports equipment and clothing into toys, electrical and other household appliances. HHB Sugg Ltd became one of the leading retail businesses in Sheffield, even being described as a Sheffield icon in one newspaper report. One unfortunate consequence of the bombing of HHB Sugg Ltd premises was that documents relating to the early days of the two Sugg businesses were destroyed. This has added to the difficulty of establishing the trading relationship between the two businesses. There must have been problems over the use of the Sugg brand name, especially on Sugg cricket bats. The bats sold by HHB Sugg Ltd in the early years would have included bats produced by Frank Sugg Ltd and carrying Frank’s name and later Philip Mead bats, but in the 1930s HHB Sugg Ltd set up its own bat-making business in Sheffield, The Sugg Manufacturing Co Ltd with its own stand of willow trees – in the then proprietor’s garden. HHB Sugg’s bats were branded Sugg Exelsa and its premium bats were endorsed and signed by well-known cricketers, for example, the Willie Watson Autograph bat. But the aim of the business was to meet the needs of players of all ages and standards. Although Frank’s Business Career 113