Paver Ltd

The new warehouse will be 200 yards from the company's existing distribution centre on the Northminster Business Park. Hopes are high that it can be up and running in two years and generate an extra 50 jobs over the next five years.

It is needed because last year alone, the firm, which has 350 employees and 50 shops in three countries, processed more than one million pairs of shoes at Poppleton. The new building will double that capacity.

The expansion represents astonishing success for Catherine Paver, who began the business 30 years ago and continues to run it with her three sons, Ian, Graham and Stuart - and is good reason for its entries in both the Growth Business and Retail Business of the Year categories in the 2004 Evening Press Business of the Year awards.

Friendly, knowledgeable staff is the major reason why Catherine's organisation is regarded in her trade as the fastest-growing major footwear retailer in the UK, expanding by as much as 90 per cent over the past three years.

Another big factor is the use of modern technology. An integrated stock control system installed and updated over 20 years has meant having the right shoes in the right place at the right time, plus an efficient next-day order service.

The Paver family sources shoes from top brands like Ecco, Timberland, Clarks, Gabor, alongside its own brands, Pavacini designer wear and Pavers from some of the world's best factories in Italy, Spain, Germany, India and China.

The company has obtained exclusive distribution for Italian sandal brand Flyflot and two years ago secured the distribution rights for the international designer brand Pierre Cardin in the UK and Ireland.

A huge area of growth for Pavers over the last two years has been sales through digital TV, selling more than twice as many shoes as any other European retailer - up to as much as 7,000 pairs a day in an appearance on Sky channel 635 Ideal World.

The company has also launched its own "shoe shows" on other channels under the brand of shoe-shop.tv in partnership with leading brands like Ecco.

...and gives 4,000 pairs to the needy

'ello, 'ello! Who is stepping out with the police?

The answer is Catherine Paver, head of the York-based chain of Paver shoe shops, and Liz Fletcher, of the Nottingham Police Aid Convoys

And if their "crime" was to donate 4,000 pairs of footwear to the workhouses, women's refuges and orphanages of war-torn Kosovo, then it was guilty as charged.

Through Nottinghamshire Police Aid Convoys, which ensures that donations are physically taken to where they are needed, Paver joined companies like Pretty Polly and Marks and Spencer to make their contribution of excess stock.

Updated: 09:36 Tuesday, July 27, 2004