Business History Explorer Supported by the Business Archives Council

Smedley HP Foods Ltd

Other Business Names:

  • Midland Vinegar Co Ltd
  • HP Sauce Ltd
  • Lea & Perrins Ltd
  • Macks (Walsall) Ltd
  • Fletcher's of Selby
  • Norfolk Canneries Ltd
  • National Canning Co Ltd
  • HP Foods Ltd
  • Imperial Tobacco Co Ltd
  • Heinz, H J, & Co Ltd

Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:

  • Aston, Birmingham, West Midlands, West Midlands, England

Sectors:

  • Food & tobacco processing Condiments, sauces & soups production
  • Food & tobacco processing Food canning & bottling

Notes:

Established 1875 by Edwin S Moore at Aston, Birmingham, as Midland Vinegar Co, to make sauces and pickles, especially HP Sauce and later Daddie Sauce. 1910 registered as Midland Vinegar Co Ltd. Floated as HP Sauce Ltd in 1924. 1929 established Albion Bottle Co Ltd. Acquired Lea & Perrins Ltd in 1930. 1930s acquired additional businesses and launched new products. 1948 acquired Macks (Walsall) Ltd and Fletcher's of Selby. 1951 Norfolk Canneries Ltd acquired. 1967 acquired by Imperial Tobacco Co Ltd. 1972 merged with National Canning Co Ltd, owners of the Smedleys brand of canned products, and renamed Smedley HP Foods Ltd. Subsequently several owners and known, inter alia, as HP Foods Ltd. Acquired by Heinz 2005 [2024]

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