User:Richjarrott/TH Baker & Co (est. 1888) Ltd

TH Baker is an independent family-owned jeweller with stores located primarily in the Midlands and Southern parts of the UK. It was founded by Thomas Henry Baker in 1888 and has evolved from a single store at 95 High Street, Brierley Hill, West Midlands to a regional chain with a significant on line retail presence. The Brierley Hill address still functions as Head Office for the company. The company is currently owned by the fifth generation of the family.

Following the Second World War the company slowly expanded, opening stores in Walsall and Wolverhampton and Dudley and buying businesses such as Thornton’s Jewellers in St. Swithin's Street, Worcester and Messrs. Jackson in High Street, Rugby.

In 1965 the company founded West Midlands Merchants to enable the purchase of stock at more competitive rates by centralising the buying process. In 1981 TH Baker became a founding member of “The Company of Master Jewellers”.

As of June 2011 the company trades from 16 premises, six of which are specialist stores trading primarily in jewellery supplied by the Copenhagen-based manufacturer of charm bracelets Pandora Jewellery. The company’s first Pandora store opened in 2009 in The Bull Ring centre in Birmingham.

TH Baker began on-line retailing by creating thewatchhut.co.uk and thejewelhut.co.uk in 2005. The company which now has an annual turnover in excess of £20 Million.

The company currently operates TH Baker stores in Brierley Hill, Brighton, Halesowen, Horsham, Kidderminster, Merry Hill, Shrewsbury, Stourbridge and Walsall. It trades using Pandora branding through two stores in Birmingham and also at Crawley, High Wycombe, Shrewsbury and Worcester.