College for Distributive Trades

The College for Distributive Trades was a technical training college in London. It was founded as the Westminster Day Continuation School in 1921. In 1986 it became part of the newly formed London Institute. In 1990 it was merged with the London College of Printing to form the London College of Printing and Distributive Trades, which in 1996 was renamed the London College of Communication.

The College was on three sites: Leicester Square (formerly the premises of the Arthur Murray School of Dancing) Business, Retail and Marketing Departments

Charing Cross Road, Display Department.

Eagle Court, Smithfield, Meat Industries Department

The Display Department at 107 Charing Cross Road shared the building with St Martins School of Art, using the basement and first four floors above which and in the adjacent buildings, were the Art School. On the demise of the London County Council in 1985 the College, along with St Martins, the Central School of Art & Design, Camberwell College of Art, London College of Fashion and London College of Printing, formed the London Institute. In 1989 the Display Department moved to Back Hill in Clerkenwell and shared the site with the newly merged Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design (CSM). At the same time CSM took over the vacated space in Charing Cross Road and retained it until moved in the summer of 2011, to the new CSM building in Kings Cross. The Charing Cross Road building had been sold to Foyles Bookshop who have the corner building adjacent to 109 Charing Cross Road. Current building work will create a new space for Foyles and they will move into the lower three floors, with new apartments to be created above.

The Display Department began in the 1950s, although its significant period was in the late 1960s and 70s. There was a close relationship between the Department tutors and the receiving retail organisations. Students on full-time course, went on a period of work placement, generally in the department stores, because at the time they had quite large departments, and were able to cope with the additional number of students.

The Department was a unique organisation staffed by specialist display tutors, all of whom had previous and current experience in the display departments of most of the major (at that time) London Department Stores. The Department awarded qualifications of the British Display Society, which were predominantly based on two year full-time, as well as part-time evening courses, for those wanting to gain vocational skills to work in the display departments of department stores and fashion retailers.

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