A
site describing J. Lyons & Co national
caterer and food manufacturer.
.
.
.
.
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First established
in the last quarter of the nineteenth century by
four entrepreneurs (Isidore and Montague
Gluckstein, Barnett Salmon and Joseph Lyons), J.
Lyons & Co. became one of the largest catering
and food manufacturing companies in the world. From
modest beginnings as supplier of catering to the
Newcastle Exhibition (UK), in 1887, the new firm
rapidly expanded to become the first food empire
which, at its height, was the largest in Europe. In
the process Lyons became a household name and the
'Joe Lyons' Corner Houses and teashops, with their
'Nippy' waitresses, caught the public imagination
and passed into history.
Always innovative
and with an acute awareness of popular taste, Lyons
brought a unique blend of showmanship, style and
spectacle to its aim of combining high quality with
value for money. This was achieved by maintaining
control of all its manufacturing and servicing
departments. Its food laboratory was world-leading
attracting many graduates from Oxford and
Cambridge. Margaret Thatcher (née Roberts)
worked as a scientist in the laboratory before she
became a member of the British Parliament and
eventually Britain's first woman Prime
Minister.
The first Lyons
teashop opened in 1894 at 213 Piccadilly. It was
the forerunner of some 250 white and gold fronted
teashops which occupied prominent positions in many
of London's high streets and suburban towns and
cities; corner sites with two entrances were
preferred. At one time seven teashops operated in
London's Oxford Street alone. Food and beverage
charges were identical in each teashop,
irrespective of locality, and the highest standards
of hygiene were demanded by management. A customers
complaint was a serious matter investigated at the
highest level. Such attention to detail was one of
the secrets of their success, for the name of Lyons
had come to convey to the public a standard of good
quality at a reasonable price. Their tea too was
said to be the best available and the blend used
was never sold or made available to the
public.
Outside of catering
other activities developed. Lyons undertook the
Buckingham Palace Garden Parties, the catering
events at Windsor Castle, London's Guildhall where
the Lord Mayor's banquets were held, the Chelsea
Flower shows, Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships
and many more. Lyons built the famous Trocadero
Restaurant near Piccadilly Circus and then built
the Corner Houses, huge restaurants on four or five
floors where orchestras played continuously. At one
time in the 1930s Lyons were engaging so many
musicians that an Orchestral Department had to be
formed to manage these.
Soon the company
was operating hotels (which they built themselves),
laundries, tea estates in Nyasaland (now Malawi),
meat pie companies, ice-cream companies, tea and
coffee companies, engineering works, jam and soft
drink factories, confectionery manufacturing and
were the first to introduce frozen food to the
British public. During the war they managed one of
the largest bomb-making facilities in the UK and
their engineering works made a range of war
materiel. They packed millions of rations for
troops fighting in Asia and other parts of the
world and bequeathed one of their teashops to the
American personnel stationed at Grosvenor Square.
Another formed part of the famous Rainbow Corner in
Shaftsbury Avenue, near Piccadilly Circus.
After the war the
company embarked on a rebuilding programme
expanding their operations into Europe and America
as well as large projects at home. They acquired
the Baskin-Robbins Ice-Cream company and the Dunkin
Donuts organisation. They developed the Wimpy
hamburger chain which essentially was an American
idea. They also built and operated the world's
first business computer which they called LEO
(Lyons Electronic Office). Large new bakeries and
meat pie factories were built with the aid of
regional grants. Several smaller ice-cream
companies were acquired to increase market share
against the fierce competition from Walls. After
the war many city centres were redeveloped and
Lyons took advantage of building new hotels
culminating in the magnificent Tower Hotel at
London's St Katherine's Dock alongside the Tower of
London.
The company's
decline came as fast as its growth. It had
overstretched on its borrowings when the UK was hit
by recession and an oil crisis. The high level of
borrowing, mainly from American investors, to pay
for the aggressive expansion programme severely
impacted on the profit and loss account, because of
the punitive level of world-wide interests rates
which prevailed throughout 1974. In 1978 Allied
Breweries Ltd made an offer for the company which
was accepted and Lyons lost its independence. It
survived for a few years under new management but
eventually it's component parts were gradually sold
to pay for acquisitions associated with the drinks
trade notably; Hiram Walker of Canada and Pedro
Domecq of Spain. The Lyons company had survived for
over 100-years. During this whole period it did not
feel it wanted to change its name and from 1887
until 1998 it proudly traded as J. Lyons &
Company.
©
Peter Bird
2002
This web site does
not in any way speak for J. Lyons & Co or its
successors or constituents. Its purpose is purely
for research and historical interest.
Lyons
Patisserie Ltd production line at Hartlepool, where
frozen cakes and gateaux were produced for the
wholesale, catering and retail
trades.
....1998.
J.
Lyons & Co. Cadby Hall,
London W14
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