H. Bronnley & Co.

Last updated

H. Bronnley & Co UK Ltd
Bronnley
Founder James Heilbronn
Headquarters
Milton Keynes
,
England
Area served
International
Products toiletries

H. Bronnley & Co. (or Bronnley) is a British soap and toiletries producer established in London. The company moved to Brackley, Northamptonshire before 1961 and was located in the old Chesham and Brackley Brewery premises, with their box making department located across the road in an old manor house. Following closure of its factory, the company relocated its head office to Milton Keynes in 2013.

Contents

History

The company was founded in 1890 by James Heilbronn, [1] [2] who was originally from Germany. [3] Today, the company claims his name was James Bronnley. [4]

Starting in a shed in Holborn, London, the quality of his soaps soon led to an expansion. First to larger premises in Islington and then to a larger plant in Acton, London. The company stayed in Acton until a large fire in 1949. The company relocated to Brackley, Northamptonshire, where the present factory was built and opened in 1989.

The company remained in family control for three generations until 2007 when it was subject to a management buy-in for around £10million. Chairman Ann Rossiter retired as part of the deal, with the new management team led by former Lornamead chief executive, Leslie Barber [5] and Scott Dougan from Revlon. [6]

In November 2011 the company went into administration [7] and was bought out by shareholders. The company subsequently announced that manufacturing would be outsourced in the future. [8]

Bronnley today is one of the leading British soap and toiletries brands. Their website has relaunched, and they have been awarded a Royal Warrant to HM The King. Previously, they held a British Royal Warrant by appointment to the late Queen Elizabeth II and were also used by King Charles III when he was the Prince of Wales. [9] [10]

References

  1. ↑ "Full text of "The chemist and druggist [electronic resource]". Internet Archive. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "HBCL REALISATIONS LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  3. ↑ "Nationality and Naturalisation: Heilbronn, Jacob James, from Germany. Resident in..." The National Archives. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  4. ↑ "Our Story – Bronnley". Bronnley. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  5. ↑ Jack, Louise (2 August 2007). "Management team buys into soap brand Bronnley". Marketing Week. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Dunne, Mark (9 October 2007). "Duo buys toiletries manufacturer". M&A Deals. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Notice: 1489158". The London Gazette. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Jobs at Brackley luxury soap maker could be at risk". Buckingham Advertiser. 17 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  9. ↑ Ashton-Jones, Christopher (30 June 2008). "Royal Warrant – a peerage for trade". The Times . London. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  10. ↑ "UK: PROFILE - QUEEN OF SOAPS". Management Today. 1 March 1995. Retrieved 2 July 2012.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.