I believe the bulk of Woodward's problems were, shall we say, internal. For an interesting look a "second tier", BV2, consider the Atkin, Grant, Lang, et al. amalgum.

Woodward may have been correct to sell "only to Purdey's" if the firm reputation was his major concern; considering how little he was paid for the brand, one can easily believe this to be true. Grant was surely the equaly of anyone in the 1890's. Yet the firm reputation was so damaged in the early 1900's by successors that the market still remembers to this day.