Daughter of Sheffield department store founder steps into some very stylish shoes

By Stephanie Smith
Published 24th Mar 2021, 10:10 BST
Back in June 2020, Rebecca Dransfield began modelling in socially distanced fashion shoots at Sandersons, the department store at Fox Valley, north Sheffield, founded by her late mother Deborah. Here she wears Calvin Klein black lounge jumper and grey joggers.Back in June 2020, Rebecca Dransfield began modelling in socially distanced fashion shoots at Sandersons, the department store at Fox Valley, north Sheffield, founded by her late mother Deborah. Here she wears Calvin Klein black lounge jumper and grey joggers.
Back in June 2020, Rebecca Dransfield began modelling in socially distanced fashion shoots at Sandersons, the department store at Fox Valley, north Sheffield, founded by her late mother Deborah. Here she wears Calvin Klein black lounge jumper and grey joggers.
After working for prestige and luxury fashion brands, Rebecca Dransfield joins the award-winning Sandersons team. Stephanie Smith reports.

Rebecca Dransfield, the 25-year-old daughter of the late Deborah Holmes, founder of boutique independent department store Sandersons, has joined the family business as a buyer.

Deborah opened Sandersons in September 2016 at Fox Valley shopping park in her home town of Stocksbridge, 10 miles north of Sheffield, fulfilling the fashion lover’s long-held dream of creating her own independent department store.

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Her husband, Mark Dransfield, father of Rebecca and their younger daughter, Lucy, is MD of Dransfield Properties, which developed the Fox Valley former steelworks site into an award-winning shopping and dining destination.

Founder Deborah Holmes pictured at the Sandersons opening in 2016. She sadly died in 2019.Founder Deborah Holmes pictured at the Sandersons opening in 2016. She sadly died in 2019.
Founder Deborah Holmes pictured at the Sandersons opening in 2016. She sadly died in 2019.

Deborah sadly died of cancer in January 2019, and Mark took on the role of CEO as well as overseeing expansion plans that have seen online sales increase and two new Sandersons stores created.

A graduate of the Fashion Retail Academy, Rebecca has worked in both online and physical retail – most recently at Selfridges in London for luxury brand Gucci.

During last year’s lockdown, she created and modelled for a series of socially distanced photo shoots within the Fox Valley store, capturing the imagination of customers on social media and helping to drive online and home delivery sales. Some of her favourite looks featured on the pages of the Yorkshire Post Magazine.

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Deborah’s passion for style and fashion saw her attract a range of brands new to the area and now Rebecca is looking forward to helping build on that legacy, saying: “I have always had a real interest in the store and how it is changing and developing but I wanted to gain experience in other retail environments before getting involved full time.”