Fullers
Cakes Ltd
Fullers
Cakes can be traced to 1889 when a party
of Americans exhibited in the UK. One of
these exhibitors was William Bruce Fuller
who demonstrated his Fudge, Peppermint
Lumps and Walnut Cake. Having seemingly
received a favourable response from the
public he decided to stay and opened a
shop in Oxford Street where he sold a
variety of cakes and confection. In 1893
Arthur Burdett joined the company as
Office Manager and the following year
another company was formed with British
capital; Burdett was one of the driving
forces within the company and became a
director. By 1895 William Fuller had
opened a factory in Wardour Street and had
opened shops in Regent Street, Bayswater
and the Strand. The Red & White theme
was introduced at this time and became a
corporate image. In 1900 cake manufacture
was moved to Great Church Lane,
Hammersmith but the freehold had been
purchased three years earlier in 1897.
However it was not until 1919 that the
four main blocks of the factory were
completed. The Fuller's company commenced
to make chocolates at this time but it was
not until 1920 that that they introduced
their own named assortment. In 1921,
following the death of two directors,
Rowntree of York took a controlling
interest. Under their guidance Fuller's
prospered and they bought Page & Shaw
Ltd, the English subsidiary of a Boston
based confectionery company. In 1947
Fuller's opened a factory in
Dublin.
By
the 1950s Fuller's had eighty-two shops
where customers could order cakes, Easter
eggs or a special box of chocolates. In
1955 they bought Callard Stewart &
Watt Ltd with a factory in Southfields and
three large restaurants in London. By 1956
their freehold site in Hammersmith had
became valuable and management considered
selling it and moving out of London. In
1959 they acquired Clifton's Chocolates of
Manchester who also had eleven retail
shops in the Lancashire area. In the same
year the Fuller's company was acquired by
the Forte Group who in 1961 also bought
Joseph Terry & Sons Ltd of York. In
1964 Forte sold the valuable Hammersmith
factory and transferred the chocolate and
confectionery business to York and in the
same year acquired the firm of C. Kunzle
Ltd and transferred Fuller's baking
interests to the Kunzle factory in
Birmingham thus enabling them to sell the
valuable Hammersmith site. The combined
operation then became known as
Fuller-Kunzle Ltd. In 1968 the baking
interests of Fuller-Kunzle (restaurants
went elsewhere) was taken over by
Scribbans-Kemp Ltd but by the end of 1968,
Lyons had acquired all these baking
interests (Scribbans Fullers Kunzle)
including the Oliver & Gurden bakery
which Scribbans owned in Oxford.
By
the autumn of 1973 it was decided to
change the name of Oliver & Gurden to
Fullers Cakes Ltd, after market research
found more consumers were familiar with
that name and associated it with being
'good value', 'high quality' and 'suitable
for special occasions'. Nevertheless the
name Oliver & Gurden was retained on
some specialised lines such as shortbread
and luxury cake, and for overseas
marketing where they were better
known.
The
Fullers bakery in Oxford closed on 31
December 1975. The Hammersmith site is now
occupied by large hotel alongside the
Hammersmith Flyover. Part of Great Church
Lane was transformed into Talgarth Road as
it comes off Hammersmith Broadway in an
easterly direction. The Fullers Chocolate
factory is listed on maps of the early
1900s.
Part
of this history is taken from D. A.
Nicholls: 'The House of Fuller's provided
by Hammersmith & Fulham Library
Service Ref: SSR 774 HM83/2320.
Hammersmith & Fulham Library Service
also provided the images. Their website
is: www.lbhf.gov.uk
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