FOOD BRANDS

Percy Dalton

The Percy Dalton peanut factory was in Dace Road, Bow.

Location: Old Ford Works, 41 Dace Road, Fish Island, E3 2NG

Golden Syrup

Golden Syrup is the world's oldest food brand.

Heinz

Heinz s first British factory was in Peckham.

In 1876 Heinz launched its tomato ketchup.

Website: www.heinz.co.uk

J. Lyons

Samuel Gluckstein built up a cigar making business. In 1887 Salmon & Gluckstein opened a cigar shop on the Edgware Road. The business became a chain. It created a number of cigarette brands. Following a disagreement within the family, his son Monte established The Fund, an arrangement by which all the male members of the family pooled their incomes and took a dividend instead. Management policy was determined by a weekly meeting. The business proved to be able to function with a degree of cohesion.

Monte Gluckstein took Lyons into catering by providing catering for the large exhibitions that were feature of the age, using Joe Lyons as a frontman. In 1891 the firm opened its own Venice-themed exhibition at Olympia. Almost five million people attended it. In 1894 it started to open its own branded cafes.

J. Lyons listed on the Stock Exchange in 1895. Seven years later the company sold its tobacco interests to Imperial Tobacco. The company opened shops that sold various kinds of food and drink.

Lyons took to selling loose tea to grocers. By 1910 the firm was Britain's third largest supplier of tea in Britain. The business moved into the hotels sector. In 1909 it opened The Strand Palace Hotel. In 1923 it started to make ice cream. During the Second World War Lyons applied its mass manufacturing expertise to making bombs for the Royal Air Force.

Lyons diversified its activities too widely and had to sell its property portfolio. In 1977 the Strand Corner House became the last one to close. The following year Allied Breweries bought the company for 63.6m. In 1979 the Conservatives won the general election. A former Lyons employee, one Margaret Thatcher, became Prime Minister. Her first cabinet included her mentor Sir Keith Joseph, who was a Gluckstein by descent, and Nigel Lawson, who had been married to a Salmon.

Location: Lyon Way Industrial Estate, Lyon Way, Greenford, UB6 0BN

Cadby Hall, 66 Hammersmith Road, W14 8RH. Gone. (orange, red)

Nestlé

Nestlé used to be known in Britain as Nestle's . The company accented its e and started sounding it in its spoken advertising. A generational split of Nestle's/Nestlé's emerged.

Website: www.nestle.co.uk

Unilever

Lever Brothers was a soap business that diversified into the food industry. Following the First World War, it found that its margarine processing activities had turned it into a rival of two Dutch manufacturers Jurgens and Van Den Berghs. In 1929 the three companies merged with one another to form Unilever.

Location: Unilever House, 100 Victoria Embankment, EC4Y 0DY (purple, black)

Website: www.unilever.co.uk

David Backhouse 2024