All posts by T Farrell

The unfiltered history of Benson & Hedges

February 23, 2019 T Farrell Leave a comment

Benson & Hedges cigarettes are sold across the world. A former subsidiary introduced the highly successful Parliament cigarette brand to the United States.

Establishment and early growth
William Hedges (1836 – 1913) and Richard Matthias Benson (1817 – 1882) established a tobacconists on 13 Old Bond Street, London in 1873. The two men targeted the aristocratic market from one of the most exclusive retail streets in the world. Imported Cuban cigars were an important early component of the business.

William Hedges was born in Marylebone, the son of a coal merchant. A refined and pious man, he was a clerk by trade and a keen Wesleyan Methodist who frankly considered the tobacco business to be on the verge of immorality.

Richard Benson was a Bristol tobacconist who had followed his father into the trade. He was a coarse man, and in many ways the opposite of Hedges. He spent much of his time at his tobacconist’s in Bristol, but when in London he would stand outside the Benson & Hedges shop, dressed drably, smoking a cigar and brazenly spitting onto the street.

Benson & Hedges received a Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales in 1878.

Benson smoked fourteen to fifteen cigars a day, and died, allegedly from excessive smoking, in 1882. It was estimated that he smoked 20,000 of the firm’s stock during his lifetime.

A P Hedges enters the firm
Alfred Paget Hedges (1867 – 1929), the son of William Hedges, joined the firm as an assistant to his father following the death of Richard Benson. He was a thoroughly decent man, who nevertheless possessed a fierce ambition.

Benson & Hedges was converted into a private limited company in 1896.

Establishment of American subsidiaries
The London business attracted a number of high-spending Americans. Encouraged by their custom, William Hedges established a United States subsidiary at 288 Fifth Avenue, New York, from 1897. Arthur Quinton Walsh (born 1861), a long-term bookkeeper for Benson & Hedges, was sent to manage the subsidiary. A relatively small business, it sold high quality cigars. At the behest of A P Hedges, Benson & Hedges also began to manufacture high-quality cigarettes in the United States in order to avoid import duties.

Sales were slow to develop at Fifth Avenue. The store was located on the first floor, and was thus unable to entice window shoppers. Walsh instead found success when he established a branch outlet in affluent Newport, Rhode Island.

Walsh eventually defied the orders of William Hedges and relocated the New York shop to a ground-level address at 314 Fifth Avenue from 1900. He removed the business to 17 West 31st Street from around 1905, but this was to prove unsuccessful due to its more obscure location. He relocated the business to 435 Fifth Avenue from 1907.

The Benson & Hedges branch in New York (1911)

A Canadian subsidiary was established on Cote Street, Montreal from 1906. Both North American branches were to prove successful.

A P Hedges became the managing director following the retirement of his father in around 1901. A P Hedges was a man guided by his Wesleyan Methodist faith, and served as a lay preacher. He was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Tunbridge in Kent from 1906 -1910.

Benson & Hedges received a Royal Warrant from Edward VII in 1906.

Benson & Hedges was converted into a public company with a share capital of £120,000 in 1910 in order to fund the expansion of the London and Montreal businesses.

William Paget Hedges (born 1894) joined his father at Benson & Hedges following service in the First World War.

Benson & Hedges was one of the largest retailers of high-quality cigars in the world by 1917.

Company capital was almost doubled to £220,000 in 1920 in order to establish a new cigarette factory at 104, New King’s Road, Fulham, and to provide further capital for the North American subsidiaries.

The American subsidiary was highly successful on the back of a strong national economy, and the British company continued to prosper. A Florida branch was opened in affluent Palm Beach from 1923.

Meanwhile the hitherto successful Canadian subsidiary entered into modest losses in 1925 and 1926, triggered by an economic depression which hit the luxury trade particularly badly. This was compounded by high taxation. Management believed that the subsidiary would have required a very high level of advertising expenditure if it was to remain viable, and lacked sufficient capital to provide it. As a result of this, the Canadian subsidiary was sold to Adhemar Gaston Munich (1882 – 1970), a French-born Quebec investor, and a regular customer, in 1926.

The United States subsidiary was sold to two New York banking houses in 1928. With a modest sales force of no more than 20 people, the company grew rapidly. It introduced Parliament, a premium-priced filtered cigarette made with Virginia, burley and Turkish tobaccos, and flavoured with liquorice, apple and brown sugar, from 1931.

Joseph F Cullman Jr (1882 – 1955) acquired 55 percent of Benson & Hedges (USA) for $1 million in 1941. His son later described the 435 Fifth Avenue shop at this time:

you might be forgiven for thinking you had entered into a time warp and had been transported to Victorian London. The manager wore a morning coat, the staff knew most of the customers by name, and the interior looked more like an ornate, exclusive jewellery store than a tobacco shop…the place was absolutely English.

A P Hedges died from heart failure in his London office in 1929. Major Arthur Pearson Davison (1866 – 1955) became managing director of Benson & Hedges.

Benson & Hedges held a Royal Warrant to supply King George VI by 1946.

Benson & Hedges (USA) was the seventh-largest cigarette manufacturer in America by 1952, and sales were dominated by Parliaments. However, the company lacked sufficient scale to provide its growing brand with the research and marketing support that it needed.

Benson & Hedges (USA) was sold to Philip Morris in 1953. Philip Morris was the fourth largest cigarette manufacturer in the country, but lacked a successful filtered cigarette brand of its own. Sales of Parliaments tripled between 1953 and 1961, due to improved distribution and a growing market for filtered cigarettes.

Sale to Gallaher
Benson & Hedges of Old Bond Street enjoyed consistently moderate success due to its specialisation in the luxury trade. The business was subject to a friendly takeover by Gallaher, a large British tobacco company which was attracted to the prestige value of the brand, in 1955.

Benson & Hedges held a Royal Warrant to supply the household of Queen Elizabeth II by 1956.

Gallaher sold the overseas rights to the Benson & Hedges brand outside North America to British American Tobacco in 1956.

Benson & Hedges of Canada was acquired by Philip Morris for around US$500,000 in 1958. The business was primarily focused on cigars.

Benson & Hedges introduced the Mayfair and Sterling brands to the British market from 1965.

Benson & Hedges was the leading king-size filtered cigarette brand in Britain by 1965. However, king-size cigarettes held just four percent of the total market.

Sales of Silk Cut low-tar cigarettes quadrupled between September 1971 and January 1972.

Estimates suggested that Benson & Hedges was the eighth highest-selling cigarette brand in the United States in 1973.

Benson & Hedges of Canada was merged with Rothmans in 1986 to form Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc, in which Rothmans held a 60 percent stake, and Philip Morris held a 40 percent stake.

The Benson & Hedges premises at 13 Old Bond Street were retained until at least 1998.

The Queen Elizabeth II Royal Warrant was withdrawn in 1999.

Japan Tobacco acquired Gallaher for £9.7 billion in 2007.

Philip Morris International acquired full control of Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc for about C$2 billion in 2008.

Benson & Hedges remains a leading brand of Japan Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco.. Parliament is the twelfth highest-selling cigarette brand in the world. Benson & Hedges Blue is the highest-selling cigarette in Britain.

Sauces Reconsidered by Gary Allen

February 16, 2019 T Farrell Leave a comment

I am absolutely delighted to have received a reference citation from Gary Allen in his new book, Sauces Reconsidered.

Allen cites my history of Crosse & Blackwell. I am glad that he found it helpful.

Sauces Reconsidered is very good, and if you have found my posts on sauces and foods interesting then I can highly recommend his book for further reading.

Allen has previously contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. He is highly knowledgeable about food. You can explore his blog here.

Confectionery

Planet Mars: a transatlantic chocolate dynasty

January 23, 2019 T Farrell 5 Comments

How did Mars become one of the leading chocolate manufacturers in Britain?

American origins
Franklin Clarence Mars (1883 – 1934) was the son of a gristmill operator. He entered into the confectionery business in Tacoma, Washington, from 1910 as a wholesaler of penny candies.

Mars relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1920, where he formed the Mar-O-Bar company and began to manufacture chocolate bars. The business struggled until his son, Forrest Edward Mars (1904 – 1999), suggested that Mars create a chocolate bar influenced by a malted milkshake. On the back of this idea, the Milky Way bar was introduced from 1923.

The Milky Way bar was an immediate success. Sales exploded without the help of advertising. The product enjoyed a cost discount against rival chocolate bars, due to a filling made of relatively low-cost nougat.

Mars was one of the largest confectionery manufacturers in America by 1930. The Snickers bar was launched in 1930, and 3 Musketeers was launched in 1932.

Forrest E Mars graduated from Yale University with a degree in industrial engineering in 1928. He initially worked as a superintendent at his father’s factory. Meanwhile, he read voraciously on business methods, especially those used by DuPont, a large chemicals company, and business tycoon John D Rockefeller (1839 – 1937).

A brash and ambitious man, it wasn’t long before Forrest Mars clashed with his father. He deemed management as lax, and considered product quality to be inconsistent. Mars resented how his father cut costs by using low-quality chocolate in his products. He also harboured ambitions for Mars to expand its overseas sales.

Forrest Mars demanded a one third stake in the company. His father refused, but in recognition of his contribution he was given $50,000 and the foreign rights to Mars products, and told to establish a business for himself.

To gain an understanding of European confectionery manufacturing methods, Mars worked incognito at the plants of Tobler and Nestle in Switzerland, a case of industrial espionage he would later openly confess to.

Establishment of Mars UK
Mars took what he learned in Switzerland, and leased a single room factory in Slough, a small industrial town outside London, from May 1932. England was chosen for the European base because Mars could speak the language. He initially employed a staff of eight.

Original confectionery manufacturing equipment from the Slough factory

Mars understood that British confectionery tastes differed to those of his native land. His first product was an Anglicised version of the Milky Way, which he called the Mars bar. Introduced from August 1932, the product was initially entirely handmade. Instead of the Hershey chocolate used in the US, the Mars bar used a Cadbury chocolate coating, and the toffee was sweeter.

The business prospered quickly. Within a year, two million Mars bars had been sold, and 100 people were employed. The product was advertised nationwide by 1934. Mars boosted sales by advertising his confectionery as a nutritious food product.

The British Milky Way, a different product to the American Milky Way, was launched in 1935. Not all of the early product introductions were a success; short lived confectionery lines included the So Big bar and a vanilla version of the Mars bar.

Forrest Mars was a great believer in scientific management as a driver of profitability. He also had a fanatical dedication to quality. However he could also be cruel and demanding, and on occasions he demonstrated a volatile temper. However for upholding his high standards his managers were rewarded handsomely.

Franklin Mars died in 1934 and control of Mars Inc passed to his widow, Ethel V Mars (1888 – 1945).

Maltesers were introduced in Britain from 1936.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Mars returned to the United States. There he established a business producing M&Ms, a product that he had developed based on Smarties, a British confection manufactured by Rowntree.

Rowntree agreed not to compete with M&Ms in the US in exchange for the production rights to the Mars bar in South Africa, Canada and Australia.

Milky Way and Maltesers production was halted in Britain during the Second World War, but the manufacture of Mars bars was continued.

The Mars bar was the highest-selling chocolate bar in Britain by 1949.

The Bounty bar was launched in the United Kingdom in 1951. It had similarities to Mounds, an American chocolate bar produced by Peter Paul.

By the mid-1950s the leading products were Mars, Bounty, Maltesers and Spangles.

Mars was the third largest chocolate manufacturer in Britain by 1960.

Starburst (originally known as Opal Fruits) and the Galaxy chocolate bar were introduced in the United Kingdom in 1960.

The “Mars a day” slogan was introduced in Britain from 1960.

Forrest Mars gains control of Mars Inc
Forrest Mars gained control of Mars Inc in 1964. An egalitarian, he quickly dismantled the executive dining room and sold off the art collection. Private offices were opened up with glass panels to improve communication. Executives were obliged to clock in and out the same as everyone else. However to compensate for his strict demands, Mars raised salaries by 30 percent. Mars also increased the proportion of chocolate in each bar.

Forrest Mars resigned as president and chief executive officer of Mars Inc in 1967. In his place he appointed Alfred Baxter (1913 – 1986), a Unilever veteran from England.

Mars had opened a second factory in Slough, located on Liverpool Road, by 1966.

The Twix was first produced in the United Kingdom from 1967.

Mars confectionery was the third largest advertiser in Britain in 1969, and the Mars bar was the highest-selling confectionery line in the country. It was likely that the Mars confectionery business in Britain was larger than its American counterpart. Unions were excluded from the business, but employee welfare benefits were some of the best in the country.

Forrest Mars retired in 1969. He handed ownership of the company over to his two sons in 1973.

Skittles were first introduced in Britain in the 1970s.

Mars won a Queen’s Award for Export in 1979. Chocolate bars were exported to over 100 different countries. The Slough factory employed 4,000 people.

Slough produced two million Mars bars a day by 1982. It was the highest selling chocolate confectionery in the United Kingdom, with annual sales of £100 million.

Forrest Mars died in 1999. His obituary in the Daily Telegraph described him as, “a secretive, penny-pinching, foul-tempered bully [with a] monstrous character”.

Mars announced it would close its Liverpool Road factory, with the loss of 500 jobs, over the course of two years, in 2005. Production of Twix bars was relocated to France and Germany. Starburst manufacturing was transferred to the Czech Republic.

The Dundee Road plant received a £45 million modernisation investment, and continues to produce Mars bars, Snickers, Galaxy and Maltesers.

Mars opened a new £7 million research and development facility at Slough in 2012.

Slough is the European headquarters for Mars confectionery. The Dundee Road plant employed 1,000 people and produced 2.5 million Mars bars a day in 2013.

Mars remains a privately-held company controlled by the Mars family. Research by Statista indicated that Mars had the largest share of the global chocolate market in 2016, at 14.4 percent.

Vinegar

All gone to Pott: a history of Pott’s vinegar

December 10, 2018 T Farrell Leave a comment

Pott & Co built what was probably the largest vinegar brewery in Britain, and grew to control 25 percent of the market.

Rush family establishment
William Rush (1611 – 1668) began to brew vinegar at Castle Street, Southwark, London, from 1641. The premises had previously belonged to a gardener, who had used the land to rear hogs.

In an age before artificial refrigeration, vinegar was a much more important commodity than it is today, due to its preservative effect on foodstuffs.

A single vessel at the brewery held 50,000 gallons of vinegar by 1790.

Pott family acquisition
The Rush family operated the brewery until 1790 when it was acquired by Robert Pott (died 1824) and Arthur Pott, whose family had brewed vinegar at Mansell Street, Whitechapel since 1720.

Robert and Arthur Pott rebuilt the entire site across five or six acres, to create perhaps the largest vinegar brewery in England by 1795.

Charles Pott, Arthur Pott and William Pott (1795 – 1878) were the partners by 1833. The business was the third largest vinegar brewer in Britain by this time, with 14 percent of the market.

Charles and William Pott held a 25 percent share of the British vinegar market by 1844. The firm held a stock of 746,139 gallons of vinegar that year.

The brewery site covered five acres by 1846.

An examination of vinegars by The Lancet praised the purity of Pott’s vinegar in 1852.

The brewery possessed one of the principal wells of London in 1862.

The business traded as R W & C Pott by 1866.

By 1876 the business traded as A W R & N Pott. A large export market to India and other British colonies was established.

By 1884 the business traded as R & N Pott. Robert (1825 – 1894) and Norbury Pott (1838 – 1924), sons of William Pott, controlled the business.

Robert Pott was head of the concern until his death in 1894.

The brewery was operated by Robert Bertram Pott (1861 – 1944), son of Robert Pott, and Norbury Pott by 1900.

The family sold the brewery to Beaufoy & Co, its long-established London rival, in 1902. The site was sold off in 1905.

Beer & cider

Perry good: a history of Babycham

November 19, 2018 T Farrell 1 Comment

Babycham, a sparkling pear cider, was introduced to Britain in the early 1950s, and was an immediate success.

Background
The Showering family had an association with the innkeeping and brewing trade in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, dating back to the 18th century.

Albert Edward Showering (1874 – 1946), a small-scale brewer, owned three public houses in Shepton Mallet by 1928. He had four sons, and two of them, Herbert Showering (1906 – 1974) and Francis Showering (1912 – 1995) were to prove instrumental in the subsequent growth of the family business.

Arthur Edward Showering (1899 – 1979) took over the licence of the Ship Inn on Kilver Street, Shepton Mallet, which was owned by his father Albert, in 1921. The rear of the Ship Inn housed a small brewery.

Showerings was incorporated as a private company in 1932, with Herbert Showering as chairman. Cider production was established by this time. Albert Edward Showering retired in 1934.

Francis Showering, a trained chemist, was manager of the Showerings cider mill by 1939. He was a stocky, hard-working, no-nonsense West Countryman. He had been appointed managing director of Showerings by 1949.

Showerings won numerous awards for the quality of its bottled ciders throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Babycham introduction
Following years of research and development Francis Showering developed a new sterile filtration process that improved the shelf quality of perry (pear cider) in 1947. The product was clear and sparkling, and reminiscent of champagne.

Sales of perry in Britain were miniscule. The Showering brothers introduced the new product to the Bristol area and assessed its potential. Francis Showering determined to market the product towards women, and the Babycham trademark was registered in 1950. The product was packaged in 4 liquid ounce (118ml) “baby bottles”, similar to those of Baby Moussec, a popular brand of champagne at the time.

In order to prioritise the production of Babycham, brewing ceased from 1952, and apple cider production ended in early 1953. Babycham was launched nationwide from 1953 and demand immediately exceeded all expectations.

Herbert Showering was responsible for marketing the product, and advertising commenced from September 1953. Advertising was to heavily emphasise its similarity to champagne. Sales quickly boomed. Advertising agency Masius Wynne-Williams created the Chinese water deer mascot for the brand.

The Babycham deer outside the cider mill at Shepton Mallet (2008)

A significant factor behind the success of Babycham was that it appealed to the relatively underdeveloped female market. “It was the right product at the right price. It filled a gap for people, especially women, who didn’t want to drink beer or spirits”, recalled Keith Showering (1930 – 1982), the son of Herbert Showering. At the same time, bottled beers and ciders were becoming increasingly popular over draught drinks due to their more consistent quality. Furthermore, the brewers who owned much of the licensed premises in Britain readily introduced Babycham to their public houses, as it was not in direct competition with their beer.

Showerings found it was unable to meet demand for Babycham in the pre-Christmas period of 1954. Rather than compromise on product quality, which could have increased supply, strict rationing of Babycham was introduced.

Babycham became the first alcoholic product to be advertised on British television in 1955. Around £300,000 was spent on advertising between 1953 and 1956.

Acquisition trail
Showerings acquired R N Coate & Co of Nailsea, near Bristol, one of the four largest cider manufacturers in Britain, in 1956.

Showerings had installed the largest and most highly-mechanised bottling plant in the world by 1958. Tens of thousands of bottles of Babycham were produced every day. Supplies had to be delivered almost daily to holiday resorts across Britain during the summer.

Showerings was converted into a public company in 1959. Over 1,000 people were employed. By this time Showerings bought much of Britain’s perry pear crop, and had to import additional fruit from Europe. A two and a half year stock of pear juice was maintained in order to ensure supply.

Aided by heavy marketing expenditure, annual sales of Babycham had reached £8 million by 1961.

Showerings was keen to reduce its dependence on the Babycham brand. The family-controlled William Gaymer & Son of Norfolk was acquired for £150,000 in 1961. Gaymer was the third largest cider producer in Britain, best known for the Olde English brand. However it had struggled against the greater resources of its major rival, H P Bulmer. The deal transformed Showerings into the second largest cider manufacturer in the world.

30 bottles of Babycham were produced every second by the mid-1960s.

Allied Breweries merger to present
Showerings merged with Allied Breweries in 1968. Francis Showering was appointed chief executive of the wine and spirits division.

2.5 million bottles of Babycham were manufactured every week by 1969, utilising the majority of British pear production.

The Shepton Mallet plant had a production capacity of 90,000 bottles an hour, and Showerings employed around 500 people in the town.

Babycham overseas sales tripled between 1962 and 1971. Babycham was exported to 52 countries by 1971.

R N Coate production was relocated to Shepton Mallet from 1974.

Keith Showering became chairman of Allied Breweries from 1975. Allied was the largest drinks business in Europe by this time.

Allied Breweries sold 144 million bottles of Babycham a year in 1977. The product was distributed across 90 percent of licensed premises in Britain.

Babycham was made with 25 percent apple cider by 1979. It had an alcohol content of 8.4 percent.

Babycham sales were successfully established in South Africa and the Far East and the product was exported to more than 70 countries by 1980.

Sales had plummeted to an all-time low by 1982, and Showerings admitted that there was an “embarrassment factor” associated with the drink. The Babycham recipe was reformulated in order to provide a drier finish.

The Shepton Mallet site employed nearly 800 people in 1986.

Much of the Showerings pear orchards were ripped up in the early 1990s. Lower-cost fruit could be imported from overseas.

The Allied Breweries cider business was subject to a management buyout named the Gaymer Group in 1992. The deal valued the business at £140 million. 125 jobs were lost at Shepton Mallet.

Annual sales of Babycham had fallen to around one million bottles by 1993, and the deer mascot was retired.

The alcohol content of the product had fallen to six percent by 1993.

The Gaymer Group was acquired by Matthew Clark for £109 million in 1994.

Babycham sales suffered in the mid-1990s as alcopops grew in popularity.

Matthew Clark was acquired by Constellation Brands in 1998.

The Gaymer Group was sold to C&C Group of Ireland for £43.5 million in 2009. Constellation Brands retained the rights to Babycham.

The Shepton Mallet factory , the second largest producer of cider in Britain, was acquired by the grandchildren of Francis Showering in 2016.

Brothers Drinks, controlled by the Showering family, acquired Babycham in 2021.

Canned food

From little acorns: Ye Olde Oak

October 15, 2018 T Farrell 1 Comment

Ye Olde Oak is the leading hot dog brand in Britain.

Origins of the business
Robert J Smith (born 1832) was a cattle dealer from Boston, Lincolnshire. He had relocated to Liverpool, which was a leading hub for the cattle trade, by 1871.

Rowland James Smith (1864 – 1926) succeeded his father as head of the business. Operations were transferred to London.

Frank Rowland Smith (1894 – 1945) joined his father and the firm began to trade as Rowland Smith & Son.

An extensive trade in fresh meat from Europe was developed.

Trade in processed meat begins; Ye Olde Oak brand is introduced
The British government established a trade embargo on fresh pork from mainland Europe in 1926. As a result, Rowland Smith & Son developed a large trade in imported Dutch bacon. From around this time the business also began to import tinned meat.

The Ye Olde Oak brand was first registered for tinned meats in 1933.

Frank Rowland Smith had entered into retirement by 1939, and he was succeeded by his two sons, Robert Frank Rowland Smith (1902 – 1968) and Rowland William Smith.

Ye Olde Oak became the first canned meat brand in Britain to be advertised on colour television in 1956.

Ye Olde Oak became the major tinned ham brand in Britain, with one third of the market by 1973.

Struik Foods of the Netherlands began to supply Rowland Smith & Son with frankfurters from 1979.

Rowland Smith & Son is acquired by Hans Struik
Hans Struik (born 1940) acquired Rowland Smith & Son in 1984.

The company name was changed to Ye Olde Oak Ltd from 1985.

Ye Olde Oak hot dogs were found to contain just 50 percent meat, but less than that when collagens and fat were excluded, according to an investigation by The Food Commission in 2005.

Ye Olde Oak tinned ham was found to contain 37 percent water and just 55 percent meat, according to a study conducted by Which? magazine in 2005.

Acknowledgements
This article was produced with kind assistance from Rowland James Smith.

Chemical, Consumer healthcare

Life’s a bleach: a history of Domestos

September 6, 2018 T Farrell 2 Comments

How did Domestos become the leading bathroom disinfectant in the world?

W A Handley establishes the Domestos business
Wilfred Augustine Handley (1901 -1975), was the son of a blacksmith employed in the Tyneside shipbuilding industry.

W A Handley trained as a dental mechanic. As a side project, he manufactured chemicals in his garden shed. He acquired sodium hypochlorite, a waste product from the local chemical industries, including ICI Billingham, and manufactured a powerful disinfectant and sterilizer, which he called “Domestos”.

W A Handley established his “Hygienic Disinfectant Service” in 1929. Assisted by his wife Ivy, he established door-to-door sales of Domestos.

Domestos was incorporated as a private company in 1936. A factory was established at Albion Row in Byker.

Stergene, designed for washing woollens, was introduced in 1948.

Domestos enjoyed distribution across Britain by 1952.

Sqezy, the first washing-up liquid in squeezable bottles, was launched in 1957.

W A Handley placed Domestos into a company which was valued at £250,000 in 1957.

Unilever era
W A Handley required expansion capital, and the business was sold to Unilever for £2.5 million in 1961. Unilever lacked a bleach brand of its own, and was attracted to the strong growth at the company. Unilever provided managerial expertise. Handley was retained in a managerial capacity, but stepped down as chairman in 1962.

The Domestos blue plastic bottle was introduced from 1963.

The Domestos marketing and sales departments had been transferred to London by 1965.

Domestos employed 700 people by 1965.

Domestos sales continued to grow, but the Newcastle factory lacked space to expand. As a result, production of Domestos detergents including Sqezy and Stergene were transferred to the Unilever factory at Port Sunlight, Merseyside, from 1965. The customer service office was relocated to London.

Domestos held a third of the British bleach market by 1968.

Handley died with an estate valued at £172,786 in 1975.

The Domestos factory in Newcastle upon Tyne was closed with the loss of 160 jobs in 1975, and operations were relocated to Port Sunlight.

Domestos was sold throughout Europe by the end of the 1970s. It was introduced to Australia from 1981.

Domestos is a leading product in the Unilever Home Care division. Sales doubled between 2012 and 2022. Domestos is sold in over 45 countries, sometimes under different brand names, such as Domex (India and the Philippines), Glorix (Netherlands), Vim (Vietnam, Argentina and Brazil), Promax and Klinex (Greece). According to Unilever, Domestos is a leading brand in nearly every market where it is sold.

Vinegar

Fast facts and vast vats: Hill Evans & Co of Worcester

August 6, 2018 T Farrell 1 Comment

Hill Evans was the largest vinegar brewer in Britain for most of the Victorian era. It grew to become the largest vinegar brewery in the world.

Hill & Evans
Cowell, Crane & Kilpin was established as British Wine manufacturers on Foregate Street, Worcester in the 1760s.

William Hill (1788 – 1859), a Wesleyan Methodist from Stourport, and Edward Evans (1788 – 1871), a Welsh chemist, acquired the business from Charles Kilpin (1770 – 1845) in 1829.

Hill and Evans branched out into the production of vinegar from 1830. Vinegar was an important commodity, used as a preservative in an era before artificial refrigeration. The vinegar-making process also utilised the waste from British Wine production.

A vinegar brewery was established at Lowesmoor, Worcester. Hill and Evans devoted themselves to producing the purest malt vinegar, and utilised the most efficient and up-to-date production methods.

By 1844 Hill Evans was the sixth-largest brewer of vinegar in Britain, and the largest producer outside of London. 153,875 gallons of vinegar were produced in 1848.

The sons enter the business
Thomas Rowley Hill (1816 – 1896) and Edward Bickerton Evans (1819 – 1893) had joined their fathers in partnership by 1848. It was the two sons, especially Rowley Hill, who provided the impetus and drive for the business to develop further scale. Rowley Hill had been unable to attend Oxbridge due to his Congregationalist faith, and instead received an education at University College, London.

Hill Evans produced 426,546 gallons of vinegar in 1852.

Dispute with The Lancet
The Lancet, a leading medical journal, commissioned a chemical analysis of leading vinegars in 1852, and asserted that Hill Evans used sulphuric acid, a widely exploited adjunct which reduced maturation times. Hill Evans & Co refuted this, challenging the editor of the journal to conduct “the most rigid analysis of their vinegar…by chemists of acknowledged reputation”.

Eminent scientists such as Dr Lyon Playfair (1818 – 1898) were afforded free access to the entirety of the Hill Evans site, as well as their brewing records for the previous twenty years. The Lancet was subsequently forced to back down in a rare and humiliating defeat, and conceded that sulphate of lime, which occurred naturally in the local water, had been mistaken for sulphuric acid.

The sons become sole proprietors
Thomas Rowley Hill and Edward Bickerton Evans were the sole proprietors of the business by 1858. Rowley Hill was a generous benefactor, with a strong work ethic and high integrity. Bickerton Evans was a down-to-earth Baptist. Hill Evans established a reputation as a model employer.

1,048,229 gallons of vinegar were produced in 1858. The following year 1,208,600 gallons were produced, which positioned Hill Evans as the largest manufacturer of vinegar in Britain.

Lea & Perrins used Hill Evans vinegar to make their Worcestershire sauce from at least 1862.

The vinegar manufacturing process
In 1862 there were eight fermenting vessels for producing vinegar, each with a capacity of 16,000 gallons.

There were thirty vats, each with a capacity of 8,000 to 12,000 gallons, for the acidification of the brew. The brew would be held in these vats for around a month, with birch branches used to oxidise the liquid. When this process was complete, beechwood chips were used to fine, or clarify, the vinegar.

There were around twenty storage vats for the finished product, with five vats reckoned to have a capacity of 80,000 gallons each.

The finished product was actually of pale straw colour, so caramel (burnt sugar) was added as a final process to darken the product in accordance with customer preference in the English market.

Continued development
A new vat was introduced in 1863 with a capacity of 114,645 gallons. It was the largest vat in the world, and far larger than its closest rival, an 80,000 gallon vessel at the Guinness brewery in Dublin.

Built in around 1870, the filling hall on Pheasant Street contained the large vinegar vats used for storage

Hill Evans had an annual output of two million gallons of vinegar by 1866, and was by far the largest vinegar producer in Britain. Around 100 people were employed.

Hill Evans had established a London office and warehouse on the site of the former Boar’s Head Inn in Eastcheap by 1867.

Hill Evans was the largest producer of British Wine by 1868, with an annual output of 130,000 gallons.

Hill Evans constructed a small private railway branch in 1870, which linked it to the Great Western & Midland Railway.

The third generation enter the business
Thomas Rowley Hill and Edward Bickerton Evans retired from the business in 1874, and distributed a bonus of £1,173 among their 118 employees. They were succeeded by Edward Wallace Evans (1847 – 1901), Thomas William Hill (1843 – 1898) and Edward Henry Hill (1849 – 1911).

Edward Wallace Evans was an excellent businessman, and much of the subsequent growth of the firm was credited to him.

Hill Evans was accounted the largest vinegar brewery in the world in 1881, based on its annual production of two million gallons a year. A single mash tun had a capacity of 12,307 gallons. There were eleven fermenting vats, each with a capacity of 15,000 gallons. All told, the brewery had a storage capacity of 500,000 gallons of vinegar. The brewery held more than 100,000 casks.

Thomas Rowley Hill died in 1896. He left a personal estate valued at £170,322.

The works covered over six acres by 1900. The brewery had an annual capacity of 1.5 million gallons of vinegar, and was probably the largest business of its kind in Britain.

Hill Evans becomes a limited company
Hill Evans became a limited company from 1900, with a share capital of £150,000. The conversion allowed the business to pay out the share of the company owed to Thomas William Hill, who had recently died.

Edward Henry Hill became chairman and Charles William Dyson Perrins (1864 – 1958) of Lea & Perrins joined the board of directors.

In later life Edward Wallace Evans suffered from gout in his hands, and bandaged his hands in cotton wool on the advice of his doctor. Evans attempted to light a cigar whilst reading a letter, and accidentally set the wool alight. Evans suffered serious burns, and died from shock in 1901. Curiously, he left a relatively modest net personalty of £10,876. The only son of Edward Wallace Evans appears to have played no active part in the business.

The works covered around seven acres by 1907. Exclusively English grain was used for brewing. The company probably still had the largest vinegar brewing capacity in the world.

Edward Henry Hill died in 1911 and left a net personalty of £147,081. A generous benefactor, he died unmarried.

Increased competition saw the company suffer from reduced profitability in the early 1960s. Hill Evans lacked the scale of its larger rival British Vinegar. The railway line was closed in 1964.

Hill Evans entered into voluntary liquidation in 1967, and the vinegar works were closed. The Grade II listed vinegar works building are used by the Territorial Army as of 2019.

Conglomerate

King of Hong Kong: John D Hutchison

July 9, 2018 T Farrell 1 Comment

How did Douglas Clague transform John D Hutchison into one of the largest trading houses in Hong Kong?

Establishment of John D Hutchison
John Duflon Hutchison (1855 – 1920) was born in Bromley, London, the son of an English father and a Swiss mother.

Hutchison relocated to Hong Kong in 1877. He joined Robert Walker & Co, a trading house engaged in selling consumer goods to China. He acquired Robert Walker & Co in the 1880s, and renamed it John D Hutchison & Co.

Hutchison established an office in Shanghai, China from 1900.

Thomas Ernest Pearce (1883 – 1941) joined the firm from 1903.

John Colville Hutchison (1890 – 1965) declined to enter his father’s business, and instead joined the Foreign Office from 1915. He went on to become the first British ambassador to Communist China, and was later knighted.

T E Pearce acquired a controlling stake in John D Hutchison & Co from John Duflon Hutchison in 1917.

Hutchison died in Shanghai in 1920.

Pearce was joined in partnership by his brother-in-law, Philip Stanley Cassidy (1889 – 1971), from 1922.

Pearce was killed in action during the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941. Cassidy became the chairman of the firm.

Douglas Clague
John Douglas “Duggie” Clague (1917 – 1981) was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and raised on the Isle of Man. He originally worked as a bank clerk. He was a convivial man, with a passion for horse racing.

Clague joined the British Army and was stationed in Hong Kong during the Second World War. Following the Japanese invasion he was captured and held in the Sham Shui Po prisoner of war camp. With three others, including John Pearce (1918 – 2017), the son of T E Pearce, he made a daring escape into China in 1942. He was awarded the Military Cross and a CBE in recognition of his bravery.

From Huizhou, Clague commanded the British Army Aid Group, a MI9 unit engaged in assisting POWs to flee Japanese internment camps. In 1945 he joined the Thailand underground movement, and when the war ended he took command of 30,000 Allied POWs in Thailand.

Clague was promoted to Colonel in 1945, and appointed War Crimes Liaison Officer for Burma and Thailand. Clague returned to Hong Kong in 1947 with a sterling reputation and an excellent network of acquaintances.

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Presumably aided by an introduction from John Pearce, Clague was appointed deputy to Philip Cassidy. John D Hutchison & Co had suffered during the Second World War, and was dwarfed by the larger Hong Kong trading houses of Jardine Matheson and Wheelock Marden.

Wheelock Marden acquired a half share in the business in 1948.

Clague develops John D Hutchison
Douglas Clague was appointed chairman of John D Hutchison following the retirement of Philip Cassidy in 1952.

Clague bought out the Wheelock Marden stake for £1.5 million in 1963. He renamed the company Hutchison International, and embarked upon the acquisition trail.

Control of A S Watson, a pharmacy chain and one of the largest soft drinks manufacturers in Hong Kong, was acquired in 1963.

Other acquisitions included Davie Boag, a trading company, and Oriental Pacific Mills, a textiles business, in 1967.

Amidst the cultural revolution in China, and riots in Hong Kong, Clague found that assets could be acquired at a relative discount. A colleague, John Richardson, later recalled, “[Clague] was an extraordinary man. He would buy a business over the fourth race at the Hong Kong races and someone would have to make sure the deal worked.”

Hutchison International gained majority control of Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Company, one of the largest companies in Hong Kong, in 1969. Clague claimed that Hutchison International was now the largest trading house in Hong Kong.

China Provident, a warehousing business with valuable property assets, was acquired in 1970.

Clague was firmly embedded in the Hong Kong establishment. He received a knighthood in 1971. He held the prestigious role of chairman of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club from 1972 to 1974. The Financial Times described Clague as “one of Hong Kong’s most remarkable entrepreneurs” in 1974. He boasted, “I am Hong Kong’s Rock of Gibraltar”.

HSBC rescues the business
A global recession in the mid-1970s hit Hong Kong’s export-driven economy hard. This, combined with heavy losses at an Indonesian subsidiary, high-risk financial speculations and overpayment of directors, led Hutchison to enter into cash-flow difficulties. Clague sold a 22 percent stake in Hutchison International to the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) for £15 million in 1975.

HSBC forced Clague to step down from executive responsibilities. He was replaced by William Wyllie (1932 – 2006), an Australian with a reputation as a turnaround specialist for Asian businesses. Wyllie regarded Hutchison as “a cowboy outfit”, and his initial reaction was that “there probably aren’t 50 subsidiaries that are worth a damn”. Wyllie reduced expenditure, and divested 103 loss-making subsidiaries in 1976.

Clague argued, “that Hutchison had liquidity problems is without doubt. But the seriousness of them was grossly exaggerated, and talk of possible insolvency can only be regarded as irresponsible, if not mischievous”.

Hutchison International underwent a full merger with Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock to form Hutchison Whampoa in 1977.

HSBC sold its stake in Hutchison Whampoa to Li Ka-shing (born 1928), a property developer, for £52 million in 1979. Wyllie complained that the stake was sold for less than half of its book value. Wyllie later complained, “Hutchison was sold far too cheaply. It was a steal.” Wyllie left Hutchison Whampoa in 1981.

Clague died following a battle with cancer in 1981.

Hutchison grows under Li Ka-shing
Ka-shing had extended his stake in Hutchison to 40 percent by 1981.

Ka-shing appointed Simon Murray (born 1940), an affable Englishman, as managing director. Murray admitted, “I’m just the guy driving the truck. Li’s in the back, telling me which way to go”.

Ka-shing brought professional management principles to Hutchison, and expanded its operations into overseas markets. He developed a management structure that he explained combined “the fluidity of Chinese philosophical thinking with the science of Western management”.

Ka-shing sold John D Hutchison Group, the trading arm, and Hutchison Boag Engineering, a building materials company, to Inchcape Pacific for US$111 million in 1990.

By the early 1990s the diverse conglomerate had been streamlined into five industries: telecommunications, ports, consumer retail and manufacturing, utilities and property development and management.

Murray and Ka-shing eventually clashed over company strategy: Murray wanted to invest in Britain and Canada, whilst Ka-shing wanted to concentrate on trade with mainland China. Murray was replaced as managing director by Canning Fok (born 1951) in 1993.

A stake in Orange, the telecommunications business, was sold for $15 billion in 1999.

Kruidvat, a health and beauty retailer with 1,800 stores, including 700 Superdrug outlets across Britain, was acquired for £829 million in 2002.

Cheung Kong Holdings, controlled by Ka-shing, acquired full control of Hutchison Whampoa for US$24 billion in 2015, to form CK Hutchison Holdings. CK Hutchison had a market capitalization of £19.8 billion in 2023.

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