In 1906 the co-operative activist George Jacob Holyoake died and the Co-operative Movement decided to commemorate him by building a permanent headquarters for the Co-operative Union. The building was designed by architect F. E. L. Harris, who had also designed the nearby Hanover Building in the year of Holyoake's death. It was erected in 1911[2] on Hanover Street[3] and named Holyoake House.[4] A plaque was erected outside the building dedicating the building to Holyoake's memory.
The building was extended in the 1930s,[4] and a training centre on the top floor was destroyed by an incendiary bomb in the Manchester Blitz of 1940.[7] A collection of Holyoake's letters, papers and other writings are held in store in the National Co-operative Archive, also housed in the building,[8] whilst the building itself received Grade II listed building status on 20 June 1988.[9]
