Business of History: Tales & Lessons from Two Centuries of British Commerce

Date: 21st October 2025 (Tuesday)

Time: 3pm - 4:30pm

Location: Ruskin Room, Cohed Quadrangle, Exeter College, Walton St, Oxford OX1 2HG

Admission: Free and open to all

Join former MP and University of West London Associate Lecturer (Sustainability), Tom Levitt, to discuss his new book The Business of History. Inspired by a collection of 'love letters' to 32 iconic British businesses of the day written 100 years ago, The Business of History analyses the progress of British business over 200 years as exhibited by those same, often well-known, companies. Some surprising conclusions are drawn - from entrepreneurial philosophies via the role of Empire in trade to the damage wrought by 1970s business schools. By applying an ESG lens to the analysis clear trends in company ownership, growth and survival can be teased out and lessons learned for the future.

This book discussion event will explore key issues, including:

• How some of Britain’s commercial icons started, evolved and then coped with an ever-more-complex economic environment;
• The combination of factors from 1960s onwards that led to decades of anarchy in company ownership in which human values were lost;
• The important lessons history offers for today’s companies in addressing sustainability, purpose, and long-term success.

You can find more details about the book and order a copy here.

About the speaker and book author

After thirteen years in parliament (1997–2010), Tom Levitt established himself in the field of sustainable and responsible business, an interest he now pursues at the University of West London. He has written widely on the issue as well as creating fiction and a biography of Frances Perkins, America’s first female cabinet member. His books include The Company Citizen (Routledge, 2018). He is co-founder of a successful social enterprise, Fair for You; a science graduate; and a season-ticket holder at Brentford FC.

Advance praises for the book

“Libraries are crowded with books attempting to define the attributes of a successful business, capable of enduring decades, let alone centuries. This book has done something refreshingly different. Levitt offers lessons and analysis from the past and warnings for the future, a ‘warts and all’ account of the titans of business spanning some 200 years. The companies that will be written about in another century, I believe, will be the ones that embrace their purpose, giving back more than they take, rejecting ‘business as usual’. Those that don’t will be consigned to the graveyard of dinosaurs. CEOs would be wise to reflect upon the lessons in this book.” — Paul Polman, former CEO, Unilever

“This enjoyable journey through the history of some prominent British businesses – some still household names, many no longer in independent existence – is full of both drama and insight. There are lessons here for the future of today’s companies in an era of technological transformation and climate change.” — Dame Diane Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy, University of Cambridge

This event is organised by the Ruskin Institute for Social Equity (RISE), a new research centre focused on producing policy-relevant research related to inequalities in UK society. Ruskin College has been providing routes into higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds since the 19th century. It has also been a home for progressive thought and ideas for more than a century and hosted the UK’s first National Women’s Liberation Conference. Since becoming part of the University of West London group in 2021, we have established a prestigious lecture series, welcoming speakers including Lord David Blunkett, Will Hutton, Jon Cruddas, Justine Greening, Sir Paul Collier and many mor