Formerly | George Weston Holdings plc (1934–1994) [1] |
---|---|
Company type | Public limited company |
LSE: ABF FTSE 100 Component | |
Industry | |
Founded | 20 October 1935 |
Founder | W. Garfield Weston |
Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Products | |
Revenue | £19.750 billion (2023) [2] |
£1.383 billion (2023) [2] | |
£1.068 billion (2023) [2] | |
Total assets | £18.844 billion (2023) [2] |
Total equity | £11.193 billion (2023) [2] |
Owner | Wittington Investments (54.5%) |
Number of employees | 133,000 (2024) [3] |
Subsidiaries |
|
Website | abf |
Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England.
Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major producer of other ingredients including emulsifiers, enzymes and lactose. [4] Its grocery division is a major manufacturer of both branded and private label grocery products and includes the brands Mazola, Ovaltine, Ryvita, Jordans, Kingsmill and Twinings. [4] Its retail division, Primark, has some 384 stores across several countries, predominantly Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. [2] ACH Food Companies is an American subsidiary.
Associated British Foods is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The company was founded by Canadian W. Garfield Weston in 1935, initially as Food Investments Limited, with the name changing to Allied Bakeries Limited a month later. [5]
Between 1935 and 1956, ten national and regional bakery companies were acquired by Allied, including Barrett and Pomeroy, and London and Provincial Bakeries. The largest acquisition at this time was in 1955 when Allied bought the British operations of the Aerated Bread Company, founded in 1862. This acquisition included both the bakery business and the chain of cafeterias, the A.B.C. Tearooms. [6] Allied paid $8.1 million for A.B.C. At that time, Allied had a large share of the UK baked goods market. Allied's market share prior to acquiring A.B.C. was 10% of all UK bread production and the sale of 20 million biscuits per day. Allied's sales the year prior were $154 million with profits of $12.6 million in current dollars. [7] With the acquisition of A.B.C., Allied almost doubled its share of the UK's bread market by the end of the decade. [8]
Allied, under its new name, adopted in 1960, of Associated British Foods, continued to run A.B.C. as a separate brand after its takeover, with a major A.B.C. bakery in Camden Town, London. This closed in 1982 and the A.B.C. name was retired. [9]
In 1963, Associated British Foods acquired Fine Fare, then a leading British supermarket chain. [10] Following the death of the founder in 1978, control of the company was passed on to his son Garry, while the North American operations fell to his son Galen. [11]
The company sold Fine Fare in 1986 and in 1991, went on to acquire British Sugar. [12] In 1997, ABF sold its retail operations in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) to Tesco. [13] These businesses were: Quinnsworth and Crazy Prices in the Republic of Ireland and Stewarts Supermarket Limited and Crazy Prices in Northern Ireland. This sale also included the Stewarts Winebarrel off-licence chain, Lifestyle Sports & Leisure Ltd (a retail sports and leisure business), Kingsway Fresh Foods (a meat processing facility) and Daily Wrap Produce (a fruit and vegetable packaging plant). [14]
In May 1994, Greggs acquired the Bakers Oven chain from the company. [15]
In 2000, the company sold its interests in Burton's Biscuits. [16] In 2002, it acquired the Mazola corn oil, Argo and Kingsford's cornstarch, Karo and Golden Griddle syrups, and Henri's dressing brands, along with several Canadian brands, from Unilever; [17] [18] in 2004, it acquired the Tone's spice business and Fleischman yeast business from Burns Philp; [19] and in 2007, it purchased Patak's Indian food business. [20]
On 26 March 2011, Associated British Foods, and its parent company Wittington Investments, were targeted over tax avoidance by UK Uncut during anti-cuts protests. [21] The tax avoidance scheme involved moving capital between ABF/Primark and the affiliated Luxembourg entity ABF European Holdings & Co SNC by means of interest-free loans, avoiding tax of about £9.7 million per year. [22] [23] The protest took the form of a mass sit-in in Fortnum & Mason. [24]
In February 2013, the firm denied "illegal and immoral" tax evasion after it was accused by an international charity of moving its profits outside Zambia to reduce its tax bill. ActionAid said Zambia Sugar, a unit of AB Foods, had made profits of $123 million since 2007, but had paid "virtually no corporate tax" in Zambia. [25]
In October 2013, the company denied being involved in unscrupulous uses of land, in an article containing reports of forced evictions by other companies. [26]
54.5% of ABF is owned by Wittington Investments. [31] 79.2% of the share capital of Wittington Investments is owned by the Garfield Weston Foundation, which is one of the UK's largest grant-making charitable trusts, and the remainder is owned by members of the Weston family. Wittington Investments also owns Fortnum & Mason and Heal & Son. George G. Weston became chief executive of ABF on 1 April 2005, and Galen Weston, the chief executive of George Weston Ltd., is a non-executive director. Garth Weston is Regional President of AB Mauri. [32]
Fortnum & Mason is an upmarket department store in London, England. The main store is located at 181 Piccadilly in the St James's area of London, where it was established in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason. There are additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station and Heathrow Airport in Greater London, at K11 Musea in Hong Kong, as well as various stockists worldwide. Fortnum & Mason is privately owned by Wittington Investments Limited.
Primark Stores Limited is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original Penneys brand is not used outside of Ireland because it is owned elsewhere by American retailer J. C. Penney.
RHM plc, formerly Rank Hovis McDougall, was a United Kingdom food business. The company owned numerous brands, particularly for flour, where its core business started, and for consumer food products. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Premier Foods in March 2007.
ARYZTA AG is a food business based in Zurich with operations in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It is incorporated in Switzerland and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It discontinued its listing on Euronext Dublin on 1 March 2021. The group is a major supplier in the specialty frozen bakery sector, and is a global supplier of baked goods to the food service, retail and quick service restaurant sectors.
Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Originally a high street chain, it has since entered the convenience and drive-thru markets.
George Garfield Weston is a British businessman, and chief executive (CEO) of Associated British Foods.
George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian holding company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of the Choice Properties real estate investment trust and Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest supermarket retailer, in which it maintains a controlling interest. Retail brands include President's Choice, No Name and Joe Fresh. The former Weston Bakeries division, which owned the brands Wonder, Country Harvest, D'Italiano, Ready Bake and Gadoua, was sold off to FGF Brands in 2022. The company is controlled by the Weston family, which owns a majority share in George Weston Limited.
British Sugar plc is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods and the sole British producer of sugar from sugar beet, as well as medicinal cannabis.
Willard Garfield Weston was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Weston family. He led George Weston Limited and its various subsidiaries and associated companies, including Associated British Foods, for half a century and established one of the world's largest food processing and distribution concerns. He also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British House of Commons during World War II.
Garfield Howard "Garry" Weston CBE was a Canadian businessman who was active in the United Kingdom.
The Aerated Bread Company Ltd (A.B.C.) was a British company founded and headquartered in London. Although it is often remembered as running a large chain of tea rooms in Britain and other parts of the world, it was originally established in 1862 by John Dauglish as a bakery using a revolutionary new method he had developed, with the tea rooms starting in 1864.
Illovo Sugar Africa (Pty) Ltd based in uMhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is Africa's largest sugar producer. The group produces raw and refined sugar for local, regional African, European Union (EU), United States and world markets from sugar cane supplied by its own agricultural operations and independent growers who supply cane to Illovo's factories. It is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods Plc., which purchased 51% of the issued share capital which for more than £400m in 2006. In 2016, ABF bought the remaining 49% of the share capital.
Allinson is a brand of bread and of flour made by Allied Bakeries being owned by Associated British Foods
Bakers Oven was a British bakery chain. In May 1994, it was acquired by Greggs; in December 2008, the shops of Bakers Oven were renamed as Greggs.
Jana Ruth Khayat is a British heiress and businesswoman who is a member of the Weston family. She serves on the board of the Fortnum & Mason department store in London.
Wittington Investments Limited is a privately owned British holding company. It was incorporated in 1941 and is based in London, England.
Spillers Ltd was a British company that owned flour milling operations, operated bakeries and also sold pet food and equine feeds.
Emma Adamo is a British businesswoman.
Anna Catrina "Kate" Hobhouse is a British heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist who is a member of the Weston family. She is the chairman of Fortnum & Mason, an upscale department store located on Piccadilly in London.
Premier FMCG (Pty) Ltd, commonly referred to as Premier, is a South African food manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Waterfall City, Johannesburg.