1940s until his retirement in 1987. Wolfson grew GUS by offering 'A' ordinary shares, which had no voting rights, or by selling the premises and leasing it back. Through his wealth gained at Great Universal Stores, he established the Wolfson Foundation in 1955. By 1983 the company had expanded its range of operations significantly. Catalogue mail order was by far the company's primary business but the company was also engaged in retailing through shops, the manufacture of clothing and household goods, financial services, property investment and travel. Until 1997, GUS had 48 years of consecutive profit growth. UK mail order catalogues growth Great Universal acquired Kay & Company Ltd in 1937, and continued to run its catalogue, Kays, as a separate title. Based in Worcester, Kay & Company began life in the 1880s and was an established mail order company at the time of the GUS takeover. Two further mail order firms were purchased in 1938, Trafford Warehouse and Samuel Driver. After World War II, the expansion of the mail order business restarted with the purchase of Morses in 1947. This was followed by the purchase of the famous mail order business of Pryce Pryce-Jones, The Royal Welsh Warehouse, which was acquired in 1954. The company further expanded the mail order business during the 1960s by buying rivals Bollin House (1961), Dyson and Horsfall (1962) and Chorlton Warehouse (1963). GUS acquired A & S Henry & Co group in 1971 after a battle with fellow retailing group United Drapery Stores. This group was primarily a group of paper pulp and carpet manufacturing businesses and a mail order unit trading as John Noble. This was followed in 1976 by the acquisition of the retail business of S & U Stores Ltd, a 120 chain store holding company which operated catalogues, Greenbank and Meridien; In 1977 the business of Henry Wigfall & Son Ltd catalogue business of All Yours, Wigfalls at Home and Choice Mail Order were purchased, and in 1981 GUS acquired the John Myers Home Shopping catalogue business from UDS Group plc. All of these mail order businesses became part of the GUS subsidiary, the British Mail Order Corporation Ltd (BMOC) and were run separately from Kay & Company Ltd. However, in 1983 the Monopolies & Mergers Commission vetoed a merger of GUS with rival Empire which GUS had already purchased 36% of the shares in. Two thirds of the