United Biscuits
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United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In November 2014, the company was acquired by Yıldız Holding and is now part of Pladis.
United Biscuits manufactures in a number of countries across Europe, such as the Netherlands, France and Belgium. It also has a manufacturing site in India. Its company's headquarters is in Chiswick Business Park in West London.
History
United Biscuits (UB) was formed in 1948 by a merger of two Scottish family businesses:
The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange as United biscuits plc on 27 July 1948.[7]
In 1972, United Biscuits acquired Carr's of Carlisle, makers of
United Biscuits acquired the frozen food company
It sold Keebler for $500 million in 1995 after giving up efforts to break into the American market.[11]
United Biscuits was de-listed from the London Stock Exchange and acquired in May 2000 by Finalrealm, a consortium of financial investors, as well as
In October 2006,
In December 2012 UB agreed the sale of its
Operations
The core of the business is in the United Kingdom, where it produces biscuits under a number of brand names including: McVitie's biscuits and Jacob's Cream Crackers.[22]
The company manufactures in a number of countries across Europe, such as the Netherlands, France and Belgium. It also has a manufacturing site in India.[23]
The company's headquarters is in Chiswick Business Park in West London. The company's main UK distribution centre is at Ashby-de-la-Zouch.[24]
Brands
Jacob's
- Biscuits for Cheese
- Mini Cheddars
- Cheddars
- Cheeselets
- Choice Grain
- Cornish Wafer
- Cream Crackers
- Essentials Crackers
- Mediterraneo
- Thai Bites
- Water Biscuits
- Twiglets
- Crinklys
- Oddities
- TUC (UK market only)
McVities
- Ginger Nuts
- Digestives
- Hobnobs
- BN
- Rich Tea
- Penguin
- Taxi
- Lyle's
- Mini Rolls
- Club
- Gold
- Iced Gems
- Happy Faces
- Jaffa Cakes
- United (discontinued)[25]
United Biscuits Network
The United Biscuits Network, a closed-circuit radio network serving their factories across the UK which was active from 1970 to 1979, spawned the career of UK radio presenter Steve Allen and TV and radio personality Dale Winton.[26]
In popular culture
In his 2009 book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, Alain de Botton chronicles his tour and brief experiences with employees of United Biscuits as they launched the "Moments" biscuit line.[27]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Companies House Records". Retrieved 4 July 2020.
- ^ a b c "Annual Accounts for the tear ended 31 December 2020". Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "Companies House PSC register". Retrieved 4 July 2020.
- ^ "A New Biscuit Company." The Times [London, England] 19 March 1948: 9.
- ^ "United Biscuits Crawfords For More Than £6M." The Times [London, England] 24 May 1962: 19.
- ^ "£2.8M. Biscuit Merger." The Times [London, England] 21 January 1965: 22.
- ^ "Archive issuer list 1999". Retrieved 4 July 2020.
- ^ Anthony Rowley. "Cavenham sell biscuit interests for £4m." The Times [London, England] 5 July 1972: 19.
- ^ "Information on Wimpy's Franchise Archived 11 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine",Caterer Search. Retrieved on 29 January 2008.
- ^ "History". United Biscuits. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
- ^ United Biscuits Sells Keebler for $500 Million
- ^ "UB to weigh up its options". Eurofood. 25 April 2002. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
- ^ United Biscuits (holdings) Limited, 1999 Annual Report
- ^ "United Biscuits selling Young's stake". Eurofood. 29 March 2001. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
- ^ "Danone sells its UK biscuits to United". The Independent. 24 July 2004. Archived from the original on 27 December 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
- ^ "City sandwich". The Daily Telegraph. London. 11 July 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
- ^ Parkinson, Gary (26 October 2006). "Private-equity companies snap up United Biscuits in a [pound]1.6bn". The Independent. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
- ^ "Blackstone and PAI complete purchase of UB" (Press release). United Biscuits. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2007.
- ^ "Cinven, MidOcean to sell United Biscuits" (Press release). Alt Assets. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ^ "KP Snacks snapped up by Intersnack in £500m deal". Manchester Evening News. 5 December 2012. Archived from the original on 8 December 2012.
- ^ "Turkish food giant gobbles up United Biscuits". The Daily Telegraph. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ^ "McVitie's and Jacob's owner Yildiz plans to sell British biscuits around the world". The Independent. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ "Team Builder". Business Today. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ "United Biscuits Midlands Distribution Centre". Mister What. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ "United Bars are the eighties sweets we need to see back on our shelves". The Daily Edge. 9 February 2016.
- ^ "Pick of the Pops Biography". BBC. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
- ^ "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work". The Economist. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2017.