Bradford people loved Busbys’. Their hearts are full of fond memories of the store that moved into a stunning building in Manningham Lane in 1930 and occupied it until 1978 – the year before a disastrous fire put paid to the then-empty premises.

That much became clear when, a year ago, Bradford Industrial Museum staged an exhibition of images of Busbys’ taken from the CH Wood archive which now has its home at the museum’s premises in Moorside Road, Eccleshill.

Former customers and employees flocked to the exhibition, which became one of the most popular ever staged at the museum. They exchanged their reminiscences, and many of them wrote them down – or had them written down for them by Colin Neville, the chief interviewer for the project.

Now Mr Neville and project co-ordinator Michael Callaghan have assembled those memories, along with extracts from Busbys’ house magazines and a host of CH Wood images, in the form of an excellent glossy book published by Bradford Museums, Galleries and Heritage.

“The department store, or ‘shop’ as it was affectionately known, was so much more to many people than just a place to work or a place to shop – it was part of their lives,” writes Mr Callaghan. “Busbys’ staff and customers have special memories about a time when shopping and life was very different to today.”

In his introduction, Mr Neville sums up what made that store such a special place to all generations. He writes: “For children, the social buzz of the cafes, the rush of the overhead Lamson cash carriers and, above all the Christmas Grotto, made the store a place of wonders. For adults, the recurring and dominant memories of Busbys’ are of a shopping emporium, set within a grand Victorian building, where they had come to expect courtesy, attention to detail and quality merchandise offered at competitive prices.”

Those qualities sit happily under the umbrella of “customer service” which, says Mr Neville, was more than just a slogan to the store’s founder, Ernest Busby.

“To him it was something very tangible and profoundly simple in its application. It was about doing decent, effective things. It was about providing chairs for people to sit on when queuing for the sales and providing tea while they waited.

“It was about repaying the tenacity and patience of the first-comers by allowing them to reserve in advance the bargains they wanted.

“It was about greeting customers, often by name, and about showing an interest in their lives. And it was about giving them value for money.”

Small wonder so many people look back on their experience of Busbys’ with such affections.

The staff followed the family’s lead, adopting its philosophy when they joined the company. At least, the wise ones did.

Mr Neville writes: “From your first day at Busbys’ you were considered to be an integral part of this extended family. If you became ill, or ran into personal trouble, you were supported. If you wanted to develop your career, you were encouraged. You were not paid commission, but received a wage that was above the norm for that time.

“However, like any other family, if you betrayed that trust, or could not share and apply its values, you cast yourself outside its walls.”

One of the visitors to the Eccleshill exhibition, Jean O’Hara, cited an example of the fate that lay in store for those who breached the Busbys’ behaviour code.

“Busbys was very strict if anybody was doing a ‘bit of bothering’ – going after someone’s husband, or vice versa – all of a sudden they wouldn’t be there,” she said. “So you would say, ‘where’s so-and-so this morning.’ And they’d say ‘Oh, she’s left’. It would turn out that she had been ‘bothering’ with someone else’s husband in another department, and they wouldn’t tolerate that, so she had to go. But a lot of firms in Bradford were like that at that time.”

Ruth Ackroyd, who worked in the dressmaking and alterations department from 1959-63 as an apprentice, recalled the other side of the coin.

“The three Busby sons would wander around the store and would always stop and talk. They would ask me how I was getting on with my apprenticeship.

“They were very kind and really cared about every single member of staff; they knew everyone’s name. If any member of staff had difficulties, through illness or financially, they would try and help you. They took notice of your personal needed; you weren’t just an employee, they went that extra mile for you.”

Jean Marshall (nee Denby) worked in the staff office from 1947 to 1959 and had plenty of opportunity to study the different roles and characteristics of members of the Busby family.

“The impression I had of Mr Ernest was that he was a gentleman,” she writes. “He was always immaculate; very straight, very courteous, polite and well-mannered. The three sons complemented each other very well.

“Mr Arthur liked to be about the store talking to everyone and helping the buyers. Mr Eric oversaw much of the artistic and advertising work; he was a small, dapper man, a fun person and a very nice man. Mr Gerald was the managing director and the bulk of responsibility fell on his shoulders. He was the one who drove the business: a very clever man; very good with figures. He didn’t suffer fools gladly – and he expected the best from everybody. But he was very fair and had quite a sense of humour.”

Writing in Busbys’ house magazine in 1934, Arthur Busby laid down the basics of the sort of staff behaviour towards customers that some modern retail businesses would do well to adopt.

“To promote fellowship in business, always be alive to render service to your colleagues and customers, and let it be of the best and ungrudgingly given. Try to make customers really glad they have come, and want to come again, by being bright and smiling and having a cheery word for all. Never allow a customer to feel any sense of dissatisfaction, and never argue.”

It grieved everyone in Bradford when the store, which by then had been rebranded as Debenhams (with which it had merged in 1958) closed in 1978. It must have grieved the Busby family most of all though.

After it burned down the following year, Eric Busby wrote: “So the famous Victorian building was burnt to a mass of twisted metal and rubble in less than three hours. I cannot dwell on this sad ending except to say that it was less distressing than the empty building had been. And mind you, I did think that as a fire it was the best ever! A dramatic, super-magnificent finale.”

Busbys’ – A Shop Full of Memories, costs £12.95 from Bradford Industrial Museum, Cartwright Hall Gallery, Bradford 1 Gallery, Bolling Hall Museum, Cliffe Castle at Keighley and the Manor House at Ilkley.