Bowyers (company) facts for kids

Bowyers was a company in Trowbridge, England, that made many different meat products. They were especially famous for their sausages. In 1985, a bigger company called Northern Foods bought Bowyers. The company changed owners a few more times. Sadly, the main factory in Trowbridge closed in 2007. Today, the Bowyers brand is still used by another company, Addo Food Group, for things like sausage rolls, pork pies, and quiches.

How Bowyers Started and Grew

In 1805, a man named Abraham Bowyer opened a small shop in Trowbridge. He sold different kinds of food, but he became very well known for his meat products, especially his sausages. Eventually, he decided to focus only on making meat products.

Later, Bowyers joined up with other meat companies, Wiltshire Bacon and Harris. Together, they became part of a larger group called Marsh Bodiner Group. This helped Bowyers get more money to grow. In 1954, they moved into a bigger factory called Innox Mill in Trowbridge.

Changes and New Owners

In 1985, Northern Foods bought Bowyers. Then, in 1990, Bowyers joined forces with another company called Palethorpes. They created a new company together, named Pork Farms Bowyers.

In 2001, the part of the business that made Bowyers and Palethorpes pork sausages was sold to Kerry Group. This allowed Pork Farms Bowyers to focus more on baked meat products, like pies.

In 2007, a special type of investment company called private equity firm Vision Capital bought Bowyers. This was part of a big sale by Northern Foods. At that time, new rules from the European Union said that special Melton Mowbray pork pies had to be made very close to the town of Melton Mowbray. Because of these rules, Bowyers decided to close its factory in Trowbridge. About 400 people lost their jobs there. The company then invested a lot of money into their factory in Nottingham to make more Melton Mowbray pies. Some of the workers from Trowbridge were offered jobs at another Pork Farms factory in Shaftesbury.

In 2015, Vision Capital put Bowyers together with other pastry brands to form a new company called Addo Food Group. In 2017, Addo Food Group was sold to another private equity firm, Lloyds Development Capital.

Where Were the Factories?

The main factory site in Innox Mill, Trowbridge, was bought by the Morrisons supermarket chain. Most of the buildings were cleared away. However, one three-storey factory building from around 1875 was saved because it is a very old and important building, known as Grade II listed. The site was sold again in 2016.

Bowyers also had a factory in Plymouth, on Alexander Road. This factory had a very tall chimney with the name Bowyer written down its side. This building used to be a brewery before it became a factory making bacon and ham in 1921. In 1959, it was owned by Unigate Dairies. Bowyer's bought the plant and opened a new factory in 1979. The old factory was then torn down, and its famous chimney was removed in May 1980.