History

The Hanson years (1985 – 1996)

In late 1985, Hanson Trust (later PLC) made a successful bid to buy Imperial and the takeover was completed the following April.

Change followed rapidly. Courage was sold in September and Golden Wonder in October. Finlays, Bond’s Delivery and the wholesaling arm of Sinclair and Collis soon followed.

Simultaneous moves were made to improve Imperial Tobacco’s efficiency. Thirteen new divisions were set up – five manufacturing (Bristol, Nottingham, Liverpool, Ipswich and Glasgow), three trading (Southern, Central and Northern) and sales and marketing, technical, leaf, financial and personnel divisions in Bristol.

By mid-1988 the sales forces of Wills and Players had merged, the number of brands had been cut from 155 to 63 and the number of packings from 238 to 105.

Within two years, there were only 29 brands and 54 packings left in the portfolio.

In October 1989 a new trading division was set up in Liverpool, taking over the sales and distribution of all J&H Wilson snuffs, specialist pipe tobaccos and a selection of non-proprietary tobaccos.

By the end of that year the office block at Hartcliffe in Bristol was empty and a year later it was declared that the entire estate would be sold.

In May 1990 a major strategy was announced with the objective of making the company Europe's most efficient tobacco manufacturer.

The two-year programme concentrated on consolidating production. A massive £40 million was spent on resources to increase efficiency.

New cigarette machines at the Horizon factory operated at 14,000 cigarettes a minute – double the previous output. A new cigar factory was opened in Bristol in 1991 and equipped with machines producing 200 cigars a minute compared with a mere 20 previously.

These developments and the concentration of production at three main sites – Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham – meant a reduction in the workforce. By the end of 1993 the number of employees had fallen to 2,500.

Given the establishment of the Single European Market in 1993, Imperial's actions were not surprising. It had to improve efficiency and reduce production costs to compete with its European counterparts.