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Harrods is the most famous shop in the world. For over 175 years, selling across a million feet of sales floor and employing more than 6,000 people, it lived by the motto ‘everything for everybody, everywhere’. 
 
In its Victorian heyday, Harrods was unrivalled, claiming that there was not an item of merchandise or service that the store was unable to provide – you could have your underwear fitted, open a bank account and book a steamer to New York in one visit.  Over the last 175 years, the store has been owned by five families, each with their own strategy of how to keep the iconic shop at the top of its game. But in the last 30 years, the store has morphed from Edwardian glamour into a mainstream tourist attraction. It’s now more renowned for its Harrods-branded towels than being the pinnacle of a luxury shopping experience.  The store’s reputation has been further tarnished by the allegations of sexual abuse against former chairman, Mohamed Al-Fayed, that has seen hundreds of women come forward and detail their experiences at the hands of the abusive former owner.  So, what went wrong at the store that was once so confident it had the telegraphic address of ‘Everything, London.’ How did it slip from being a byword for excellence and quality to mecca for sightseers, with something much darker lurking beneath?
 

Harrods: The Rise and Fall tells the story of a national icon’s incredible rise and tragic fall from grace, from its earliest days in London’s East end to the recent revelations that risk jeopardising the store’s once-regal reputation.