About Us

While you are here, let us tell you a bit about us....

We are a footwear retailer that sells rather a lot of shoes, approximately 20 million pairs a year!

We have over 470 Stores within the UK and Republic of Ireland for you to shop in!

We like to keep our prices low to help you spend less - our average price is less than £10!

We employ over 4,000 people to make sure your shoes get to you!

Our Aims

We aim to do the following...

Offer you a range of low price shoes for all your family

This is how we achieve our aims...

We offer you fantastically low prices because we buy shoes in such great volume from our hand picked suppliers and keep our overheads low by operating an efficient distribution chain and avoid paid advertising and extravagant store concept costs.

Have well trained friendly and efficient staff

All our staff are well trained to provide you with excellent customer service and product knowledge so we can fully cater for your needs.

We recycle whatever we can (over 3000 tonnes annually) and have invested in tear drop lorries and installed intelligent reactive lighting in our distribution centre to reduce our carbon footprint. As a company and via the Shoe Zone Trust we also give to many charities both locally and further afield.

All our shoes are inspected and tested to ensure they meet our high quality standards, and because its important to us that you are happy, if you are not happy with your purchase, you can return them unworn within 12 months for a full refund.

We give you access to our products wherever you are - you can shop in store with us at one of our 470 stores nationwide where all shoes are displayed in pairs for quick and easy service or shop online and take advantage of free delivery to your door, or to your local store, with no minimum spend.

Management Team

Charles Smith

Chairman

Anthony Smith

Chief Executive

Steve Orr

Operations Director

Catherine Bowen

Director and Company Secretary

Terry Boot

Finance Director

Our Story

1980

Brothers, Michael and Christopher Smith purchased Bensonshoe in 1980. Their Grandfather was a footwear manufacturer and had invested in the business so shares had been handed down through the family and once combined gave the Smith brothers a significant share of Bensonshoe which they were then able to buy out. Michael and Christopher ran the business successfully though the 80’s and 90’s when Michael’s two sons, Anthony and Charles came on board. Christopher left his role in 1997 to follow other interests.

In 1981 Wassall plc was acquired increasing the number of stores in the company to 80.

1981

1986

The acquisition of Tyler Ltd added 61 stores (mostly in Ireland) and £6m turnover.

Head Office and warehouse moved from the old premises at Brunswick St. to new offices and Distribution Centre of approx 65,000 sq ft.

1991

1993

Anthony Smith, Michael’s son joined the business in 1993 as Marketing Manager, holding various roles within Marketing and Retail and taking over the reins as Chief Executive in 1997. Anthony is now Chief Executive Officer. Anthony can’t sit still, his constant strive for new things and to do things better keeps us all on our toes. He is also well known for his charity ventures having completed a marathon, several cycle rides and a mammoth 65.5 mile walk so far.

First Discount Shoe Zone store opened in Coventry and many stores were converted to pairs on display under Anthony Smith’s new role as Chief Executive.
Acquired around 20 ex Curtess / Freeman Hardy Willis Stores from British Shoe.

1996

1998

Charles Smith, Anthony’s older brother joined the company, starting as a Store Manager and then Area Manager, moving to Head Office and becoming Retail Director in 2000. Charles is now Chairman. The welfare of our staff and also the wider community is close to Charles’s heart. He has his fingers in many pies bringing people and things together to make a difference often via the Shoe Zone Trust.

1st £1Million Store in Blanchardstown, Dublin

1999

2000

Acquisition of Oliver Timpson Plc took place in 2000 more than doubling the number of stores.

Name of business changed to Shoe Zone and the 1st Shoe Zone store opened in Telford showcasing the new corporate colours of orange and blue.
Extensive alterations at Head Office and the Distribution Centre including moving into a larger area of the building 110,500 sq ft.

2001

2002

A period of consolidation followed the busy acquisition period. Time and effort was spent improving the image and shop fit.

2005 saw another extension taking on Zone 2, a second building over the road and giving us a total of 190,000 sq ft

2005

2007

400th store opened in Newtown Wales.
Shoefayre was acquired in September 2007 adding 250 stores to the portfolio.

The acquisition of Stead and Simpson took place in January 2008 just months after the Shoefayre takeover creating a platform for the business to operate 2 fascias.

2008

2010

Shoe Zone online launched and became the biggest turnover store in it’s first year.

A period of consolidation after years of recent acquisitions, streamlining the property portfolio and strengthening the Shoe Zone brand.

2011

2012

In May 2012, another extension took place at Head Office, creating the Link, connecting Zone 1 and 2, totalling 27,545 sq ft of Head Office and Distribution space.

We floated on the London Stock Exchange, a move that valued the business at around £100 million.

2014

2015

Launched new concept store in Meadowhall, Sheffield.

On 21st June 2016 Nick Davis, Chief Financial Officer was promoted to Chief Executive Director and Anthony Smith became Executive Chairman.

The company logo was revamped, introducing a fresh new look and colour, replacing the orange with a complimentary cyan blue. Also, since it was born, the brand has been spelt as two words. However, the new updated fascia of Shoe Zone is now as one word - ‘shoezone’.

On 19th August the 1st ‘Big Box’ new concept store was opened in Launceston, showcasing a brand new modern look to the store and selling branded stock alongside own brand styles. A further 2 stores with this new concept opened in Durham and Kirkstall.

A dedicated purpose built and future proofed Online Distribution Centre was created at Head Office in August to increase our efficiency and reduce order processing times. This resulted in a more robust online warehouse, capable of meeting the needs of the business and exceeding customers order expectations, across our Multichannel and International sales channels.

Our International journey began in November, by launching across European Amazon websites in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Since then we have added International sales to the main website and eBay, launched on Amazon.com in the USA and via an App in Africa. Our shoes are now on the feet of happy customers in over 72 countries World Wide, with more being added as the journey continues.

2016

2017

4th ‘Big Box’ store opened in Aberdeen on 5th May, followed by an additional 6 other new concept stores which opened in Martlesham, Cowley, Gallions Reach, Norwich, Congleton and Selly Oak throughout the year.

On 19th August 2018 the 1st "Out of Town" store was opened in Launceston, selling branded stock alongside own brand styles. A further 2 stores with this new concept opened in Durham and Kirkstall, Leeds.

On 24th November 2018, the 1st "New Concept Hybrid" store opened in Manchester, in the Arndale Centre, selling a combination of branded and own brand styles. A further two stores of this kind opened in Exeter and Dereham.

2018

2020

Our store portfolio continues to grow with 53 "Out of Town" stores and 7 "New Concept Hybrid" stores open selling both branded and own brand styles, as well as 398 High Street stores.