Records of Phillips and Drew, 1892-1992. The majority of the records were deposited in 1998 by Henry Claude Cottrell, who was a partner in the firm from 1952 until his retirement in 1978 and acted as senior partner in his later years at the firm. Papers relating to the Blue Arrow trial in LMA/4606/D were deposited in 2012 by Martin Gibbs, partner in Phillips and Drew and defendant in the Blue Arrow trial.
The collection includes: corporate records including minutes of meetings of the proprietors and partners (1959-1963), partnership deeds and partnership rules; administrative papers of partners relating to the management of the firm, the structure of the partnership, accounts, staff, and the history of the firm; financial records including annual accounts (1936-1959), monthly account statements (1963-1975) and ledgers (1928-1950, 1954-1960); transcripts and evidence bundles from the Blue Arrow trial and appeal; publications, reports for clients and publicity materials; wage books, salary lists, booklets for staff, photographs of offices and menu cards from staff events; leases; research notes accumulated for the production of the firm's history; and accounts for Phillips and Drew Service Company.
The records are particularly strong for those interested in: the development and use of computer technology for stock broking and in the Stock Exchange; changes to working culture from the late Victorian period through the twentieth century, including attitudes to women in the workplace; the recruitment and training of staff in the financial industry; and the formation of the Gilt-Edged Department and the development of business in this market.
Please note that many of the partners and staff are referenced by initials only in the files. A list of partners can be found in appendix two of Reader and Kynaston's Phillips and Drew: Professionals in the City.