About us

Hi there Sole-mate, thanks for seeking us out and visiting our website! Ultimately we want you to be as relaxed and comfortable as your feet are sure to be when you make a purchase with us.

We realise that shopping with a newly discovered company can be a bit of a daunting experience, so to put your mind at ease, let’s be friends, get to know us, this is who we are and what we do!

 

 

1971 Where it All Began We were born in 1971 in York, England, founded by Catherine Paver, an ambitious mum to be proud of. Catherine, frustrated with the lack of comfortable and stylish shoes available for her sensitive feet and high arches, took out a £200 loan from the bank (she told them for a couch!) to fund her new business passion to find the perfect style for everyone’s feet. Starting small, Catherine began selling shoes and clothes at homeware parties in houses and village halls.

1981

The Pavers Flagship Store Opened

Through her desire to source and sell shoes that fit well and look great, our company began to grow. Nestled in the heart of Yorkshire, the first Pavers store opened in the seaside town of Scarborough; selling quality brands at discount prices, subsequent stores in York, Hull and Newcastle quickly followed. Cathy was later joined by her sons, Graham, Stuart (Managing Director) and Ian, who have helped to nurture the family business and this desire, drive and passion to be a leader in stylish yet high quality comfort footwear.

1996

Further Store Openings

The company grew and more, larger stores were being opened. At the same time, the Pavers head office opened its doors in York alongisde a 90,000 sq ft distribution centre.

TODAY

Continuous Ambition and Success

Over the years, Pavers has grown into one of the most successful footwear retailers in the UK and one of the fastest growing in Europe. Our dedicated buying team travel to the far ends of the world to source our fantastic footwear and now with our dedicated US website, you can buy your very own pair from the comfort of your home. Our range features the most coveted designs, ensuring you find your perfect style!

The Search for the Perfect Style!

As a family owned company we appreciate good values, we believe that we should do the best that we possibly can for our customers, and be honest, reliable and trustworthy. We pride ourselves in delivering to all of our customers “the Pavers Experience,” excellent value for money, great quality footwear with exceptional service.

Pavers and the Environment

We’re very proud of our British heritage and so happy to still call York home, all of our head office departments are located here and we dispatch all of our shoes to our shops and direct to our customers from our base here in Yorkshire.

Although everyone needs a little bit of a revamp once in a while and in October 2006 our head office and warehouse changed and grew to keep pace with us, our stomping ground is Catherine House, our eco-friendly head office and state-of-the-art distribution centre. It’s not just our customers' feet we’re worried about! It is our own as well. We’re very concerned about our carbon footprint and the effect we have on the environment.

We understand that when we use energy, we create carbon dioxide and other green house gases that change the climate. So at our head office we have the latest technology which allows us to give something back. In 2011 we installed a renewable energy system, placing solar panels onto our warehouse roof to generate some of our very own electricity, we can now generate 25% of the amount of the electricity we need in the head office and warehouse ourselves. We can put back into the grid and we use a motion-sensor energy efficient lighting and a rainwater collection system. We compact and bale all cardboard waste at our distribution centre for recycling.

 

Pavers Foundation

Established in 2018, the Pavers Foundation is dedicated to making a meaningful impact to our surrounding communities. We are striving to actively improve the communities that our colleagues live in and to support causes close to our team.

The Pavers Foundation was launched with £2.5m in donations from the business and Catherine Paver's private estate, making it one of the largest family business foundations in the North of England. In addition to the initial donation, the business donates a further 2% of net profit each year, to ensure the Pavers Foundation continues to grow and in-turn continuing to help worthy causes close to the business and its staff.

Supporting two major charities each year, all employees play an active role in the Pavers Foundation, where they are directly involved in choosing the causes. Furthermore, the Foundation welcomes applications from our 1,700 colleagues, pledging to promote healthcare and well-being, supporting education initiatives and enhancing community projects.

Leading mental health charity, Mind, has received a donation of £65,000 after employees at Pavers Shoes, Jones Bootmaker and Herring voted them our Charity of the Year. 

The Best Retailer to Work for in the UK

In 2020, Pavers Shoes was voted the best retailer to work for in the UK by Retail Week in accordance with reviews posted on Glassdoor, where we scored 4.6 out of 5.

Our goal as a retailer is to deliver happiness, but this doesn’t stop with our shoes, it’s with our people too. We know our colleagues are the kindest individuals and our greatest asset, we value the talent of every single team member who each bring a unique set of skills to our teams.

At Pavers we have created a work culture that promotes inclusivity, ambition, opportunity, and growth for all of our colleagues. We truly believe the talents, passion and dedication of our employees are the reasons behind our success. The Pavers employee is more than just a colleague, they really are part of the family.

Pavers Shoes turns 50

From the day that Pavers started back in 1971, to today, our mission to provide comfortable and stylish footwear has always remained the same.

Over the last 50 years we have built up a reputation for being one of the UK’s favourite footwear company’s, delivering comfort and happiness in everything that we do.

The Pavers Foundation: Thanks a Million!

Just as we reached our 50^th year, the Pavers Foundation reached a very special milestone of donating a total of £1 million to worthy causes across the UK and beyond.

The Pavers Foundation was launched in 2018 to honour the memory of our beloved founder, Cathy Paver and to continue her legacy. Our colleagues and our stores sit in the heart of many communities across the UK, and with the help of the Foundation we can help make meaningful differences to places within the UK and beyond!