TETLEY GROUP LIMITED

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 LMA/4364
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: TETLEY GROUP LIMITED
Date(s)	: 1849-1978
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 2.86 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Joseph Tetley and Co | tea merchants W H and F J Horniman and Co Ltd | tea merchants J Lyons and Company Limited | food manufacturers and caterers Lyons Tetley Ltd | food manufacturers and caterers

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The history of this collection involves the history of three different companies which came together over a period of about 70 years as a result of takeovers and buyouts by J. Lyons and Company. (The history of J. Lyons and Co. can be found in the introduction to ACC/3527)

In 1826 John Horniman had founded a tea packing business in Jersey. He was the first man to market packet tea rather than loose tea. In 1899 his sons, William Henry and Frederick John incorporated the business and established strong markets in Yorkshire. Their factory was in Wormwood Street, London. In 1918 J. Lyons and Co. purchased a controlling interest in W.H. and F.J. Horniman & Co. Ltd. to try and gain stength in the markets up North which Brooke Bond had already established. This was around the same time of the Lyons' big move to the factory site at Greenford, Middlesex in 1920. In 1968 Lyons bought out the remaining shareholders of this company, the "Overseas Trading Corporation Ltd." and it became a wholly owned subsidiary. At this point Horniman's whole operation relocated from Jersey to the UK.

Lyons did not stop their ambitions for expansion there and later took an interest in Joseph Tetley Company. Trading as tea merchants since 1837 in Huddersfield the Tetley family established Joseph Tetley & Co. when one of the brothers, Jospeh, went into partnership with Jospeh Aklan in 1856. Over the next 20 years the business continued to grow and expanded into the United States. It was these established American connections through the work of a distribution company called Wright and Graham which allowed it to grow at a faster rate. In 1913 Tetley established a base in America through Wright and Graham which became Tetley Tea Incorporated. Perhaps one of Tetley's most noted achievements was bringing the teabag to England in 1953, nearly 33 years after it had been introduced in America. This was introduced by Tetley Ironside Tetley-Jones, Joseph Tetley and Company's British Representative and became a mainstay of their business.

As the teabag market doubled packet tea was declining. Lyons wanted to raise the profile of its tea operations by purchasing the American Tetley Tea Company from Beech-Nut Incorporated in December 1972 for 23 million pounds. When the merger finished in April 1973 Tetley changed its company name to Lyons Tetley Ltd. to reflect both companies' interests and compete in the 130 million pound tea market. At this time Lyons Tetley Ltd. had a combined workforce of 3,000 with its business based at three sites; Greenford (base of Lyons Groceries), Bletchley (former Tetley UK Head Office and factory) and Eaglescliff (Tetley factory). The acquisition of Tetley brought into the Lyons group two American speciality coffee brands and opportunities in Australia. In 1976 Lyons Tetley merged with Lyons Catering Supplies to avoid duplication of produce. By 1980 the enlarged business had enabled Tetley to dominate the UK teabag market and in 1989 it introduced the world's first round teabag. By 1990 all the various tea and coffee businesses were brought together under the single company of Lyons Tetley Ltd.

1978 was the last independant trading year of Lyons as an individual company because Allied Breweries Ltd acquired J. Lyons and Co. Ltd. which became Allied-Lyons. This was the start of the breakup of the Lyons Tetley empire. In 1994 Allied-Lyons was aquired by Pedro Domecq sherry group and became Allied Domecq. The Tetley tea part of the business was the last to go. In July 1995 it was bought by a management team headed by Leon Allen and backed by Prudential Venture Managers Ltd. It eventually sold for £190 million. In 2000 The Tetley Group was sold to Tata Tea Ltd.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of J Lyons and Company Limited and Lyons Tetley Limited, food manufacturers and caterers, W H and F J Horniman and Company Limited and Joseph Tetley and Company, tea merchants, 1849-1978.

This collection contains records relating to all three companies (Horniman, Lyons and Tetley) when they were trading as separate businesses and when they were united under various incarnations of the one "Lyons" name. (They include references to other companies such as Symbol biscuits which Lyons took over in 1944)

However, despite the fact that some corporate records such as minutes have been retained by the Tetley Group Limited the majority of this collection is in fact composed of records relating to the Lyons company (which is necessarily linked with the former due to the fact it was a major competitor for years before taking it over in 1973).

Marketing and publicity aspects are the most heavily represented. As such this is a visually appealing collection and of particular note are the photograph albums and volumes of artwork, product labels and advertisments which are a testiment to the impact tea drinking has had on British society and its way of life.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The records have been arranged into three series to reflect the individual companies which eventually made up Lyons-Tetley. W.H. and F.J. Horniman (LMA/4364/01) was absorbed by J. Lyons and Company (LMA/4364/02), which had been in business since 1886 and Tetley (LMA/4364/03) which had been trading since 1837 was taken into the Lyons group in the 1970s. Within each series the records have been divided according to business function, such as corporate, production, sales and marketing records.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

These records were held at the Tetley Group Greenford factory site, Middlesex until they were deposited at London Metropolitan Archives in 2001.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Records were deposited by Tetley GB Limited, Greenford, Middlesex in 2001.

Allied Materials

Related material:

For more records relating to J. Lyons and Company Limited see ACC/3811, LMA/4004, LMA/4018, LMA/4183, LMA/4258, LMA/4271, LMA/4306 andACC/3527, in particular ACC/3527/262 (list of archives of Lyons Tetley Ltd.), ACC/3527/118 - 135, ACC/3527/174,321, 324, 356, 362, 695, 696, 730, 735, 742, 743.

Publication note:

The First Food Empire. A History of J. Lyons and Co. by Peter Bird (West Sussex, 2000).

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
July to October 2009