Charmer Holdings Limited
Margetts
Preserves Ltd
In
their bid to increase their market share
of the grocery sector J. Lyons embarked on
a number of small acquisitions of long
established firms. One of these was W,
Symington Ltd, famous for its dehydrated
soups, and on 1 April 1969 they acquired
Charmer Holdings Ltd (for an undisclosed
sum), owners of Margetts Ltd and Challen
Bros., producers of preserves, pie
fillings and fruits.
Margetts was founded by a Hackney grocer, James Margetts.
His shop was close to the London fruit
markets and he started to offer his
customers preserves. Business rapidly
developed and in 1869 he moved to Hurtle
Farm in Dalston. This site was still in
use in 1969 and the brand name of Hurtle
Farmhouse was retained when Lyons bought
the company. In 1905 the Margetts and
Challen families, then bakers sundriesmen,
became associated. The Challens bought
preserves from Margetts to sell through
the bakery trade. Later, Challen Bros. Ltd
was formed. In 1927, on the retirement of
James Margetts, Challen Bros. bought the
business of Margetts & Co Ltd and
renamed it Margetts Preserves Ltd.
Margetts were the first firm in the UK to
manufacture fruit pie fillings in 1948 and
continued to play a major part in
expanding this market up to the 1980s.
They later acquired the business of Coombs
Brothers of Silvertown (1950), Fowler
Brothers (Preserves) Ltd of Watford (1962)
and Worcestershire Packers and Growers Ltd
(1962) of Tenbury Wells. The last named
developed into one of the most modern
canneries in the country.
As early as 1950 they pioneered the establishment of rigid
standards in the packing and quality of
fruit for the catering trade. Among their
long time customers, who had traded with
the firm for over 50 years, was the London
County Council (LCC) - later the
Greater London Council - hospital groups
and many county authorities responsible
for school meals. A large part of the
business was private label and Margetts
specialised in fruit products for dairy
and ice-cream industries, including Lyons
Maid.
In 1992, in a series of initiatives in eastern Europe, a
joint venture between Margetts Foods and a
Polish conglomerate, the Interpegro Group,
formed Pegrmar. Based in Kielce, 100 miles
south of Warsaw, it operated cold storage
and processing facilities. From there
fruit was exported mainly to Margetts in
the UK and the Company's Sobomar joint
venture in France which produced fruit
preparations. Poland had long been a major
source of soft fruit for the European
fruit processing industry, but Margetts
thought that a joint venture with a Polish
company would offer better quality and
quantity control. In 1994 Lyons Bakery
also entered into a joint Polish venture
with a privatised co-operative and formed
Lyons Bakeries Polska Sp.z.o.o. Tetley too
had some success in Poland with their tea.
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