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......Wholesale Bakery Division.......

Wholesale Bakery (Rails) Division

The title, Wholesale Bakery Division is somewhat of a misnomer for not only did it incorporated the Bakery Rails Department which was later incorporated into its title (Bakery Wholesale Rails), but the provincial selling operation was not strictly wholesale; most of the business conducted was with the traditional corner shop – in some areas, like the Welsh Valleys, this would sometimes be the front room of a house!
The rapid growth of the bakeries, and other manufacturing departments, came at the time of the second Boer War of 1899–1902, which continued right up to the start of the First World War. As this intensified, labour shortages became more critical, and this put pressure on many catering companies. Expenditure on food dropped continuously as the government imposed absolute control on the bread trade. Flour mills were heavily regulated and the price and quality of bread were determined by statutory order.
Numbered at more than a hundred at the start of the war, bakery rounds salesmen did not hesitate to volunteer for the armed services and with some apprehension by directors, their jobs were taken over by women. The women kept the bakery rounds not only functioning but secure for the men returning after the war. Their success can be judged by the fact that there were 140 rounds by 1922 and the service continued to grow. The prosperity enjoyed during 1914–18 was not entirely due to the support given by the female drivers; statutory control of raw materials and absence of competition would at least have guaranteed profits at pre-war levels.
There is some doubt as to the exact date when the next phase of bakery distribution started, that of the Wholesale Sales – which became the Wholesale Bakery Division and then divided into Wholesale Bakery Rails, Wholesale Rounds and Provincial Wholesale Rounds. It has been suggested that agents had first contacted Lyons before 1914 to buy bread in bulk to sell on to their customers. Other evidence suggests the process did not start until 1914. In any event the real transition from door-to-door sales to part-wholesale selling did not properly begin until 1922. Then, two vans with a nucleus of some ten dealers started to build from the East End of London and from there the service extended to cover the whole of outer London by the start of the Second World War. Meanwhile, the traditional horse-drawn vans continued to ply their routes radially from Cadby Hall, but this service declined as the wholesale and retail trades matured through agents and the teashops. By the end of the war, and with the emergence of supermarkets, much of the bakery trade was conducted through the Wholesale Division
During the mid-1920s Julius Salmon, who had successfully managed the Strand Palace Hotel and was renowned for his inventiveness, had returned from a visit to America fired up with a plan to introduce mail order to the British public. This, he hoped, would increase cake sales still further. While in the USA had met a British-born immigrant called William Brown, who worked as a jewellery buyer for a large department store. The two men became friendly and Julius Salmon persuaded Brown to give up his job and return to the United Kingdom, with his American wife, to take charge of a cake mail order operation.
William Isaac Brown – later known as WIB – started work with Lyons in 1925 and with the help of Lyons Staff Stores (a staff shop selling company products which later opened to the public) produced a modest mail order catalogue. During the experimental trials many items ordered from the catalogue were returned, and this led Julius Salmon to conclude that the United Kingdom market was not yet ready for mail order.
William Brown then introduced the Bakery Rails service in 1925 and the distribution of cake took another leap forward. By making extensive use of the railway networks, Brown’s initiative created a colossal surge in bakery sales. Well-trained salesmen would visit shops in towns and cities as well as remote rural shops, persuading retailers to buy cake from a printed catalogue with the sole proviso that their orders be for no less than 12 shillings. All orders taken were guaranteed delivery within twenty-four hours. This was made possible by the closeness to Cadby Hall of Kensington (Addison Road) railway station with its unique interconnection to thirteen railway networks which collectively linked up directly with the entire national railway system. At one time Kensington station handled nearly 500 steam trains a day. In addition, Carter Paterson and other carriers provided a local daily service from rural railway stations to the innumerable village stores in the more isolated regions. Provincial salesmen would also collect their orders and distribute them accordingly. Within its first year, Bakery Rails generated so much additional trade that it became necessary to build a further bakery unit in 1926 to meet demand. (See The First Food Empire – A History of J. Lyons & Co).
With a reputation for being super-critical, William Brown travelled throughout the railway networks, checking and improving every detail. Stationmasters were alerted to his travels and treated him almost like royalty during his trips up and down the country. Such was Lyons’ influence with the railway companies that Walter Gaunt, transport director between 1942–51, was even able to arrange, on more than one occasion, to stop the Flying Scotsman at his local station. Salesmen orders could also be given to the train guards who would deliver them to London (for collection by Lyons staff) if the last mail had been missed. It was a very efficient system and bakery goods could be delivered within 48 hours (sometimes 24 hours) to any part of the country. After the war the Beecham closures of the railway network caused the arrangements to collapse and a road system was introduced.
Provincial sales representative were provided with Austin 10’s and their product list (about 23 inches long later shortened to 18 inches) contained up to 150 items. Representatives carried cake catalogues for special birthday or seasonal cakes. One of the most popular birthday cakes was the Crinoline Lady. Chocolate biscuits and grocery lines (culinary flavours) were carried by the representatives. During the war years some journeys were merged and bicycles were substituted for cars. Women were also trained and took over the role from men yet again. Rationing of course brought its difficulties and during the war years a large part of Bakery Sales was made to canteens which had sprung up everywhere. The Government at this time granted sugar and fat permits (PSP2A’s) to canteens, pits, war factories and the like, based on the number of employees they were feeding. The different baking concerns would compete for these permits and salesmen would call on catering managers to secure their permits which allowed bakeries to claim their sugar and fat allocations based on their employee numbers. Needless to say competition for these permits, which went direct from Government to bakeries, was fierce. Within the Bakery Rails system was a very large clerical operation which kept track of all allocations, deducting an appropriate amount of sugar and fat for each delivery to individual canteens. It was a time-consuming and complex procedure. Nevertheless, the permits secured by Lyons helped to keep sales buoyant. Nobody ever understood what PSP2A stood for; the permits were known as Sugar & Fat Permits and the Government code bears little relationship to this except that Permit for Sugar & Polyunsaturates seems to fit but this is probably wrong!
The structural organisation of Bakery Wholesale Rails Division, like any organisation, was frequently modified and the reporting structure after the Second World War, up to the 1950s, consisted of a Sales Manager at Cadby Hall into which reported two Regional Superintendents; one for the North and the other for the South. These two Regional Areas were then subdivided into four Geographical Areas. Each of the eight Geographical Areas had a Superintendent (and assistant) under which there were between 15 and 20 salesmen. The Salesmen’s calls were listed in a Journey Book, with approximate time of call, thus all visits could be tracked if necessary. The whole operation was carried out with Swiss watch precision and Bakery Wholesale Rails became one of the largest operations within the company.

© Peter Bird 2005

 

Wholesale Bakery Division Dinner, Olympia 1937

Click for larger view


© Peter Bird 2005

Cake Order and Invoice Measuring 24"x10" Dated 1937


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