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......Wholesale
Bakery Division.......
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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
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© Peter
Bird 2005 |
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Cake Order and Invoice Measuring 24"x10"
Dated 1937 |
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