History
Major businesses (1786 – 1989)
WD & HO Wills
WD & HO Wills was founded by Henry Overton Wills (1761-1826), who opened a shop in Castle Street, Bristol, in 1786. He traded as Wills, Watkins & Co, but on the retirement of his partner in 1789, the company became Wills & Co.
William Day Wills and Henry Overton Wills II succeeded their father in 1826 and, four years later, the company adopted its familiar title.
Wills was known for its family spirit and a belief that workers should enjoy themselves. The company pioneered canteens, free medical care, sports facilities and paid holidays.
“Free medical care, sports facilities and paid holidays”
It was one of the first of the larger tobacco companies to make cigarettes.
Bristol, introduced in 1871 and initially made by hand, was the first cigarette produced at the company's London factory and appeared in several guises until it was withdrawn in 1974.
Three Castles and Gold Flake followed in 1878 and Woodbine, produced on the revolutionary Bonsack machine, ten years later.
Embassy, introduced in 1914, was to repeat its initial success after re-launch as a coupon brand in 1962.
Wills' factories and offices were at the forefront of design. From the late 19th century, factories were built and extended not only in Bristol but also in London, Swindon, Dublin, Newcastle and Glasgow.
In 1974 the first cigarettes were produced at a new factory in Hartcliffe, Bristol – the largest in Europe – which closed in 1990.
Nearly 30 members of the Wills family served the company. The last, Christopher, the great-great grandson of H O Wills, retired as sales research manager in 1969.
John Player & Sons
John Player bought a small tobacco manufacturing business in Broad Marsh, Nottingham, in 1877. It employed about 150 people and produced pipe and chewing tobaccos, as well as hand-made cigarettes.
In 1881 he bought an extensive site at Radford in Nottingham, where he set out to build three factory blocks. They became the centre of the 30 acres of factories and offices that were to develop there.
"How Radford became the heart of development"
John Player did not live to see his plans mature. He died aged 45 in 1884, the year the first Radford factory opened.
The business continued to expand and was run by a group of close friends until his sons, John D and William G Player, took over as managing directors in 1893. Two years later it became a private limited company and, by 1898, all three Radford factory blocks were in operation. The Player brothers retired from active participation in the business in 1926. The number of employees increased from 2,500 in 1914 to 5,000 in 1928 and 7,400 by 1939.
By 1960 the company was riding the crest of a new wave and it launched its first coupon brand, Player's No 6, in 1966. It was an overnight success. The biggest addition to its operations came in 1972 with the opening of the £14 million Horizon factory, occupying a 45-acre site at Lenton in Nottingham.
Ogden's Liverpool
Thomas Ogden started the business in 1860 when he opened a small retail shop in Liverpool's Park Lane. In a short time he had established several branches in the city and within six years had his own factory in St James' Street.
In 1870 additional premises were acquired in Cornwallis Street and within just 20 years Ogden's had six factories and stores in Liverpool.
"Six sites in just 20 years"
By 1899 it became clear that it was uneconomical to have the company's operations spread between locations and construction began on the present factory in Boundary Lane.
On its completion in 1901, all its activities were concentrated on the one large site. As the business continued to expand, the building grew. After a brief ownership by the American Tobacco Company, Ogden's became a branch of Imperial Tobacco in 1902. Over the years several tobacco companies merged with it, including William Clarke's UK business in 1924, Hignett Brothers in 1930 and W & E Faulkner in 1959. In 1962 Ogden's stopped making cigarettes and concentrated on pipe tobaccos. Famous brands such as St Bruno, introduced in 1896, and Gold Block, first sold in 1901, are still made there. The final consolidation of pipe brands came in 1973 when Churchmans was taken over by Ogden's.
In the 1980s there was a £1 million improvement of the Liverpool site and in 1989 snuff manufacture transferred there from J & H Wilson of Sheffield, managed by Ogden's since acquiring it in 1953.
