It was with great sadness that the Illingworth family announced the passing of Robert ‘Bob’ Illingworth on Monday August 23, 2021, aged 91.
Retiring officially in 1990, aged 60, he never stopped working at Widdop & Co, a major giftware supplier to thousands of card and gift shops, and remained the company’s chairman until November 2020, watching with pride as his sons, and grandsons, took the business he grew from strength to strength.
Bob was the sole member of the Widdop Bingham third generation in the family business, which was founded by his grandfather, William Widdop, in 1883. The son of Mary Illingworth (nee Widdop), he grew up in West Yorkshire in an entrepreneurial family that built caravans and furniture, and ran a jeweller’s shop among other businesses – one of which even made parts for the Spitfire during the war. Bob attended school in Bootham in York before his time in the military took him to North Africa. Bootham was a quaker school that had an influence on Bob’s whole life as well as that of his four sons.
He joined the very small Widdop business in Manchester around the time of his marriage in 1956 having moved over the Pennines to establish a family home in Saddleworth. Based on Bradshaw Street in central Manchester, he became an exemplary pioneer in the giftware trade, from attendance at the very first Spring and Autumn Fairs to the installation of the first computer in the industry, and much celebrated paper catalogues. He expanded the business taking over four other older businesses, until Widdop’s settled and expanded in Chadderton on the outskirts of Manchester.
Launching and distributing so many famous brands in the UK, from Hermle clocks to Oneida cutlery, he became the heart of an incredible growth story that has continued today.
Many staff and customers will know him for his regular trade show visits, his lunch in the canteen with his wife Jean, opening the post and going to the bank every day, even in retirement. They may even know him for his sweet humour or his homemade staff Christmas dinners.
As the family commented: “For so many years, he was the heartbeat of this business and the energy behind much of what this company does today. He was the root of our family’s values, a strong, exemplary man who would do anything to protect his family, both Illingworth, and Widdop. He was an old school leader who epitomised everything the business is and will be in future, and all of us owe him so much for the opportunities we have today.”
Bob is survived by his wife Jean, his four sons, 11 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren along with the whole world of Widdop & Co, a thriving fifth generation family business.
As the whole Widdop family mourn his loss, they also celebrate the life and legacy of “the greatest and longest serving ambassador this business has ever had. The Illingworth family and all at Widdop thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and best wishes and will announce in the coming days details of his funeral which will take place in Elland, the family home, in West Yorkshire, in early September.”
Top: Bob Illingworth, who sadly passed away recently.
