Needler's facts for kids
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| Industry | Confectionery |
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| Founded | 1886 (approximately; purchase of predecessor company) 1902 (incorporated as Fred Needler Ltd.) 1906 (name changed to Needler Ltd.) |
| Founder | Fred Needler |
| Headquarters | Kingston upon Hull, England |
Needler's was a famous company from Kingston upon Hull, England. They made delicious sweets and chocolates for many years. The company started in the 1800s and was later sold in 1986.
Contents
The Start of Needler's Sweets
Needler's was created by a man named Frederick Needler. He was born near Kingston upon Hull in 1864. When he was just 14, Frederick started working in a tea and coffee warehouse. Later, he became an apprentice at a grocery store.
Frederick's First Sweet Business
At 18, Frederick worked as a bookkeeper for Edward Buckton. Edward had a small business making sweets in Hull. Around 1886, Frederick bought this business from Edward for £100. This was a lot of money back then! He used money from his mother to make the purchase.
Frederick moved the business to Anne Street. He had two helpers: a sugar boiler and a young boy named Watson. They used a horse and cart to deliver their sweets.
Growing the Sweet Company
In the late 1800s, many sweet companies were in Hull. They usually sold their sweets only in areas where their horses could travel easily. Frederick Needler soon started selling his sweets to other shops. He moved his business to bigger places north of Paragon Station. In 1898, he bought buildings at 9 and 11 Spring Street. This is when the company started keeping official records.
Sweet Production and Sales
By 1899, Needler's was making about ten tons of sweets every week! They had 33 employees and made over 200 different products. Most of these were boiled sweets and toffees. The company also sold sweets from other famous brands like Cadbury, Frys, and Rowntree's.
A smart marketing idea helped the company grow. They started using clear glass jars instead of green ones. This made the sweets look much more appealing to customers.
Becoming a Bigger Company
On October 27, 1902, the company officially became "Fred Needler Ltd." Frederick Needler was a director, along with Alfred Thorpe and Joseph Cooper Wilson. Frederick owned most of the company's shares.
In 1906, Needler's built a new, larger factory on Bournemouth Street in Hull. With this move, the company's name changed to "Needlers Ltd." As more people wanted their own sweets, the company stopped selling other brands by 1912.
By this time, Needler's made 576 different products. This included 74 types of chocolates. A new chocolate factory opened in August 1916. The company's sales grew a lot, reaching £664,000 in 1920.
Needler's in the 1920s and Beyond
In the early 1920s, Needler's was making about 650 tons of chocolate and 1,500 tons of sweets each year. Their products now included special Christmas boxes and Easter eggs. They had 1,700 employees, mostly women. Many more people worked during busy times like before Christmas and Easter.
Even though Needler's was a big company, it wasn't known all over the country. It only had about one percent of the sweet market. In 1927, the factory's packing areas got air conditioning. This meant they could pack sweets in any weather. Sweet wrappers were first used in the early 1920s. At first, people wrapped them by hand, but machines started doing it in 1928. By 1929, 1,500 people worked at the factory.
Delivering the Sweets
Before 1918, sweets were delivered locally by horse and cart or van. For longer distances, they used trains. As the company grew, they needed more delivery vans. These vans worked from Hull and from train depots in cities like London, Manchester, Nottingham, and Grimsby. By 1927, they had 40 vans, all painted chocolate-brown to advertise the company.
In 1950, Needler's stopped using trains for deliveries. This was because the railways started handling goods roughly, which broke many chocolates. After that, all deliveries were done by road. In 1965, the company still had 50 vans and drivers.
Facing Tough Times
Needler's faced difficulties during the Great Depression. The worst year was 1931, when sales dropped a lot. This was also when Frederick Needler's health got worse. He passed away in 1932 at age 67. Frederick was known for supporting the Liberal party and for being kind to his local community. He even gave a house in Cottingham to be used as a student home for the new Hull University College. His son, Percival, took over as Managing Director.
New Sweet Discoveries
In 1938, the company's chemists found a way to make clear or "Glace" fruit drops. Needler's had very little competition in this area until the mid-1960s. Because of this, the company started focusing more on sweets rather than chocolate. Big companies like Cadbury, Rowntree's, and Mars already dominated the chocolate market.
Sweets and their ingredients were rationed during World War II, from 1941 until February 1953. After rationing ended, the demand for sweets, especially Glace fruit drops, went way up!
Changes in Ownership
In 1958, Needler's became a public company, meaning people could buy shares in it. However, the Needler family still owned most of the company. Percival Needler retired in 1970, and his son Raymond became the new Managing Director.
Raymond quickly bought Batgers, a toffee company from London. Batgers was known for its "Jersey" brand and for making sweets for Sainsbury's stores. Needler's stopped making chocolate in 1976 because it was losing money. They decided to focus only on Glace fruits and toffees. In 1980, they bought another small sweet company called Dickson Orde and Co. In the early 1980s, Needler's started selling its sweets in other countries, like the United States and the Middle East.
Caring for Employees
Needler's was known for treating its employees well. They started sharing profits with their workers as early as 1911. The company also offered good social and sports facilities. In 1925, they even started a mixed-voice choir called the Needlers Music Society.
Needler's After the Sale
In 1986, a company called Hillsdown Holdings bought Needler's. Raymond Needler retired in 1987.
Later, in 1996, Needler's was sold again to Blue Bird Confectionery. This company was part of a bigger company from Singapore. Needler's was renamed "Needler Blue Bird Confectionery" in 2000. Finally, in 2002, Ashbury Confectionery bought Needler Blue Bird.
After this last sale, the factory in Sculcoates, Hull, was closed down. The land where the factory once stood was turned into a housing estate, which is now called "Needler's Way."
