Five generations of the Timpson family have been involved in the business that bears their name. Chairman, Sir John Timpson CBE, is the great grandson of the founder, William Timpson, who at the age of 16 opened his first shop in Oldham Street, Manchester. William learned his boot and shoe making craft in his native Northamptonshire, but he soon realised that it took a week to make a pair of boots, but only a few minutes to sell them.
