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British Sugar - Timeline
1909- National Sugar Beet Association founded to establish the manufacture of sugar as an industry
1912 - Cantley factory built
1921 - Newark factory built
1924 - Nottingham factory built
1925 - Sugar Industry (Subsidy) Act - provided new enterprises with direct subsidies on a declining scale over ten years
1925 - Bury St Edmunds, Ely, Ipswich, Kidderminster, Spalding and Wissington factories built
1926 - Cupar, Felsted, Peterborough, and York factories built
1927 - Allscott, Bardney, King's Lynn and Selby factories built
1928 - Brigg factory built
1935 - Greene Committee Report - reviewed end of direct subsidy of the sugar industry
May 21 1936 - Sugar Industry (Reorganisation) Act created British Sugar Corporation from 13 autonomous companies, 18 factories. Government held 36% stake.
June 12 1936 - British Sugar Corporation registered
1950 - Employee magazine - Sugar Topics - launched
1950 - Small packaging departments packing granulated sugar into 1lb and 2lb BSC brand bags
August 1951 - New buff coloured 2lb paper sugar packets with red and blue lettering
1955 - First concrete silos built at York meant first bulk sugar deliveries possible.
1956 - Sugar Act - replaced the 1936 Act
1956 - Pension scheme for manual workers introduced
Early 1960's - Sachet production commenced
1963 - British Sugar Bureau founded
1966 - Monogerm seed introduced
1972 - Cupar factory closed
October 1972 - Silver Spoon retail brand launched
1973 - Entry to the European Community
1976 - Beet Sugar Development Ltd launched - to sell expertise abroad
1977 - York packaging lines converted to metric, producing 1kg packets
1977 - Rights issue raised £18 million from existing investors and effectively reduced government stake from 36% to 24% as it did not take up its share.
1977 - Silver Spoon brand sold nationally for the first time
May 1978 - Silver Spoon established as UK's leading brand
1978 - 'Bristar' symbol launched
1979 - Production of Golden Syrup and Black Treacle began at Bardney factory
November 1979 - EC proposals to cut British Sugar quota by 30% - as part of an average cut of 10% across the Community. These proposals were eventually shelved.
1979 - Peterborough factory now producing white sugar (Previously raw)
1980 / 1981 - Hostile takeover bid by S & W Berisford failed
1981 - Government sold shareholding
1981 - Britain's quota cut from 1.326 million tonnes to 1.144 million tonnes. Since farmers were not growing enough sugar beet to support British Sugar's capacity and domestic consumption had fallen, the UK Minister of Agriculture accepted a cut in sugar quota in return for better arrangements on sheep.
1981 - Ely, Felsted, Nottingham and Selby factories closed
May 1982 - Corporation dropped from the company name, it is now a plc
December 1982 - Bury St Edmunds packaging complex began operations
1982 - Purchased by Berisford International
May 1984 - New 'lozenge' style Silver Spoon logo introduced
1984 - Golden syrup and treacle now in glass jars replacing original tins.
1986/1987 - Takeover bids from Hillsdown Holdings, Feruzzi and Tate & Lyle referred to Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Subsequent bid by Associated British Foods withdrawn following stockmarket crash of October 1987
1988 - British Sugar first food manufacturer to gain certification to BS5750 Part 2 (1987)
1989 - Spalding factory closed
1989 - Silver Spoon Treat range of syrups launched
1989 - First UK food company to invest in eastern Europe with formation of Sugarpol with control of two Polish sugar factories
September 1990 - Following heavy losses in finance and property, Berisford were forced to sell British Sugar. Interest from Tate & Lyle attracted further investigation by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
January 2 1991 - Purchased by Associated British Foods for £880 million
1991 - Brigg and Peterborough factories closed
1994 - King's Lynn factory closed
June 1994 - New business divisions created - The Silver Spoon Company, Sugar For Industry
1997/1998 - Record crop yield of 1.59 million tonnes of sugar extracted from 11.1 million tonnes of beet
2001 - Ipswich factory closed, Bardney factory ceased beet processing
March 2001 - EU adopt "Everything But Arms" agreement (EBA) granting duty-free access to imports of all products from 49 least developed countries (LDC's) without any quantitative restrictions, except to arms and munitions. Gradual reduction of duty on sugar to July 2009
2002 - Kidderminster factory closed
May 2003 - UK grown organic beet sugar launched to food industry
23 September 2003 - EU Commission opens discussion to reform the EU Sugar Regime
2004 - Planning application to build the UK's first bioethanol production facility at Wissington
22 June 2005 - EU Commission proposes radical reform of sugar sector
24 November 2005 - EU agriculture ministers reached agreement on reform
December 2005 - Work begins on construction of UK's first bioethanol production facility at Wissington
20 February 2006 - EU agriculture ministers formally adopted radical reform of the EU sugar sector
June 2006 - Collaboration with BP and DuPont on biofuels announced
1 July 2006 - Reform of sugar sector came into force
July 2006 - Cessation of beet processing at Allscott and York factories following 2006/07 campaign announced
September 2006 - Completion of purchase of 51% stake in Illovo Sugar Limited
June 2007- Announced joint venture with BP and DuPont to build world scale bioethanol plant at Hull, England
September 2007- UK's first bioethanol production facilty commissioned at Wissington
August 2007- Announced the formation of a Joint Venture with the Hebei Tian Lu Sugar Group (Tian Lu) in the north east of China.
November 2007- Official opening of UK's first bioethanol production facility by Lord Rooker |