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The origin
of Midland Counties Ice-Cream can be
traced back to 1898 when two brothers,
Edwin and James White, left their home in
Bury, Lancashire, to seek their fortune in
the Midlands. They started a ginger beer
business in North Street, Wolverhampton,
where they made, bottled it and sold it to
the townspeople of Wolverhampton. They
were aided in this task by two horses,
Teddie and Bonnie which Edwin had driven
himself from Bury. Their business
prospered and in 1899 a larger staff was
required and two more family members
joined, Fred White and Harry White. The
firm moved to larger premises in Chapel
Street, Wolverhampton, and it was to this
place that the first outside employee came
to start work with the White brothers; his
name was Joe Holt who was just 23 years of
age.
The
ginger-beer made and bottled by the firm
grew in popularity and it soon became a
flourishing trade. In 1901 two members of
the firm obtained premises in Phillip
Street, Birmingham, and a new branch of
the ginger-beer business opened. Such was
their energy and enthusiasm that they
built up five rounds in eleven weeks in
the Birmingham area. Branches were then
opened in Leicester (1902), Derby (1903),
and London (1905).
In 1913
(the precise date is not known) an
experimental milk bottling plant opened in
an annex to the Aston Brook Street
premises and the name Midland Counties
Dairy was established. With the start of
the First World War employees left to
serve at the front and Harry White himself
went off to Mesopotamia in the Royal
Flying Corps. The submarine blockade of
the UK caused a shortage of sugar and
several of the ginger-beer factories
closed but the milk bottling business grew
and the dairy side of the enterprise
became the principal interest of the
family. Diversification started after the
war when a range of dairy products were
introduced. The bottling of good quality
milk, direct from local farms, continued
to grow alongside the manufacture of
butter and ice-cream (1923) as well as the
sale of eggs and cream. Laboratories were
established in Birmingham and
Wolverhampton and a Farms Inspector
Department ensured the quality of milk and
other food-stuffs coming from the
farms.
The two
departments (milk bottling and ice-cream
production) expanded rapidly and gained
high repute in the Midlands area. In 1963
the business was taken over by Unigate,
and in 1973 Lyons Maid bought an 85%
controlling share in the business.
Operated
from the Birmingham factory as a separate
business, Midland Counties Ice Cream had
twelve depots in the Midlands, the North;
London and the West Country. The 350 staff
working at the Midlands factory were
supported by a further 264 in the
depots.
Manufacturing
and technical manager was Mike Vanbergen,
who moved from Lyons Maid's Liverpool
factory in late 1973. The two main
production areas covered 18,000 square
feet turning out nearly seven million
portions of ice cream or water ices every
week. The laboratories in the factory were
staffed by a 12-strong team under the
control chemist # Bingham who had
previously worked at ICI and Allied
Breweries. Sales director was Eileen
Harris who headed a sales team of 35. She
had come through the business as
supervisor and district manager before
becoming Sales Manager.
Eventually
the Midlands factory was closed down as
production capacity was enlarged at Lyons
Maid's factory in Greenford,
Middlesex.
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