Pendleton
Ice Cream Ltd
In
October 1988 Lyons Maid bought the
Liverpool based Pendleton Ice Cream
Company. Pendleton's specialised in ice
lollies and its purchase not only
increased Lyons production capacity but an
enlargement of the market in the Liverpool
area where, in the 53 years of its
existence Pendleton had made a name for
itself.
The
business was started in 1935 by William
Pendleton, whose three sons, Bill, Ron and
Norman, continued to run it as a family
concern until 1979, when they sold it to
Associated British Foods, who merged it
with their Allied Foods Ice Cream
Division.
As
well as ice lollies, choc ices and cones
were produced at the factory on the
Knowsley Industrial Estate, to the north
of Liverpool. These were transferred to
Bridge Park and the lolly production at
Liverpool was increased to three million a
week.
In
the summer of 1989 the Pendleton ice lolly
factory took on the production of Lyons
Maid's best selling Mr Men lollies for
marketing in multi-packs. The packs
consisted of ten lollies in mixed
strawberry and orange flavours and the
wrappers featured such Mr Men characters
as Mr Daydream, Mr Greedy, Mr Impossible,
Mr Small and Mr Strong.
One
of Pendleton's services was the supply of
private label products to leading
supermarket chains. A self-contained van
sales operation supplied various smaller
outlets enabling drivers to give a
personal service. This delivery chain took
on some of the better known products from
Lyons Maid such as King Cones, Mivvi,
Figaro and choc ices. Linda Holden was in
charge of this operation and had 600
outlets to service. Her customers were
small supermarkets, newsagents, corner
shops, hospitals, theatres and leisure
parks. Three vans were in regular use and
two more provided a back-up in peak
periods. Ian Croxford was the Factory
General Manager.
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