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Procter & Gamble (P&G) has a long history on Tyneside, starting from its purchase of Thomas Hedley Co. in 1930. Thomas Hedley was a company local to Newcastle upon Tyne, and was the start of P&Gs expansion from its American operations. P&G moved into Hedley's Newcastle City Road site, and had its headquarters in Collingwood Street, Newcastle. It continued its UK operations by opening up a Manchester factory in 1933 (which expanded rapidly; 100% expansion by 1936), and constructing a London plant in 1937, however, it was Tyneside where P&G was solidly based. By 1948 these offices were proving inadequate for an expanding post-war business, and in 1953 P&G moved its UK administrative centre to purpose built offices in Gosforth, Newcastle. The building was named Hedley House, in remembrance of the roots of P&G in Tyneside.
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multi-national consumer goods corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by English American William Procter and Irish American James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer health, and personal care and hygiene products; these products are organized into several segments including Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. Before the sale of Pringles to the Kellogg Company, its product portfolio also included foods, snacks, and beverages.
The Thomas Hedley Co. was a British company based in Newcastle upon Tyne manufacturing soap and candles. It was founded in 1837 by two businessmen, Thomas Hedley and John Green, who set up a manufacturing facility on the city's City Road. Tyneside was able to provide a ready source of sheep, which was a source of the main ingredient (tallow) in the production of both products.
Newcastle upon Tyne, commonly known as Newcastle, is a city in Tyne and Wear, North East England, 103 miles (166 km) south of Edinburgh and 277 miles (446 km) north of London on the northern bank of the River Tyne, 8.5 mi (13.7 km) from the North Sea. Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East, and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Newcastle is a member of the UK Core Cities Group and is a member of the Eurocities network of European cities.
In 1957 the Hedley Research Laboratories were opened on Whitley Road, Longbenton. They were officially opened on June 11 by Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland. This site became known as Newcastle Innovation Centre (NIC) and as of 2013 [update] was led by Charles Bragg. It cost £500,000 to build and equip. The site has been upgraded many times in the 50 years since its opening and currently focuses on the development of laundry detergents and machine dishwashing products for all parts of the world.
Longbenton is a district of North Tyneside, England. It is largely occupied by an extensive estate originally built as municipal housing by Newcastle City Council in the 1950s and 1960s. It is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro stations Longbenton Metro station and Four Lane Ends Metro Station. Nearby places are Killingworth, Forest Hall, Four Lane Ends, West Moor, Heaton and South Gosforth, in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Longbenton and Killingworth Urban Area had a population of 34,878 in 2001. This figure increased to 37,070 in 2011.
Hugh Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland, was the son of Alan Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland, and Lady Helen Gordon-Lennox. He succeeded to the dukedom of Northumberland in 1940, when his brother Henry, the 9th Duke, was killed in Belgium in World War II during the retreat to Dunkirk.
In 1962 Shultons established an Old Spice plant at the Northumberland town of Seaton Delaval. When Shultons was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1990, it became another part of P&G's presence on Tyneside. The plant now manufactures many of fine fragrances that P&G produce, both under their own brands and under licence. It is also the site for the 'company shop', where P&G staff and retirees can purchase P&G goods for a reduced price.
Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products encompassing deodorants and antiperspirants, shampoos, body washes, and soaps. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble.
Northumberland is a county in North East England. The northernmost county of England, it borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham and Tyne and Wear to the south and the Scottish Borders to the north. To the east is the North Sea coastline with a 64 miles (103 km) path. The county town is Alnwick, although the County council is based in Morpeth.
Seaton Delaval is a village in Northumberland, England, with a population of 4,371. It is the largest of the five villages in Seaton Valley and is the site of Seaton Delaval Hall, the masterpiece completed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1727.
In 2000, the Gosforth offices were closed 43 years after their opening. This was done as part of a big corporate restructuring within P&G globally, and the UK's administrative centre became the Brooklands complex in Weybridge, Surrey. However, one of three global business service centres was established at Cobalt Business Park in North Tyneside. P&G has one building on the park, offering financial services to P&G companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As has been the tradition, one pays homage to Thomas Hedley Co. and is called New Hedley House.
Weybridge is a town by the River Wey in the Elmbridge district of Surrey. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the Wey, from which it gets its name. It is an outlying suburban town within the Greater London Urban Area, situated 7 miles northeast of Woking and 16 miles southwest of central London. Real estate prices are well above the national average: as of 2008, six of the ten most expensive streets in South East England were in Weybridge.
Surrey is a subdivision of the English region of South East England in the United Kingdom. A historic and ceremonial county, Surrey is also one of the home counties. The county borders Kent to the east, East Sussex and West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west, Berkshire to the northwest, and Greater London to the northeast.
The Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, and is part of the Tyneside conurbation. The borough council's main office is at Cobalt Business Park in Wallsend. The local authority is North Tyneside Council.
