Chocs Away?

Another great British manufacturer looks set to pass out of British ownership, after the board of Cadbury plc accepted a takeover bid from Kraft earlier today. The takeover of the Birmingham based confectionery company by Kraft will create the world's largest confectionery entity. We live in an ever increasing global age, where the competency of the board of directors in ensuring the jobs of the workforce should matter more than the ethnicity, race or nationality of the directors themselves.

The historic city of York has a long association with the confectionery industry. Two names stand out in that history: Rowntree and Terry's. Sadly, Terry's factory in the city closed in 2005 with the loss of over 300 jobs (after Kraft, its new owners opted to stop production in the city) but Rowntree continues to mass produce chocolate in York, though the company was acquired by Nestle in 1988.

There are a number of similarities between the Cadbury and Rowntree families. Both began their businesses in the nineteenth century and both families were concerned about the welfare of their workers and invested heavily in amenities for them. Henry Isaac Rowntree was a committed Quaker as were Richard and George Cadbury, who instigated the building of the Bourneville model village for Cadbury's workers in Birmingham. The Rowntree family also built a model community at New Earswick, outside York. No pubs have ever been built in Bournville or New Earswick.

Visitors to York can hear more about the Rowntree family's association with the city with the Best of York walking tour. The tour is downloadable in MP3 format and comes with a free map for listeners to print out.

York is a great place to go on a short break. The city has plenty of Old World charm and history a plenty, which listeners to the Walk Talk Tour of York have the flexibility to enjoy at their own pace. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

The modern office block pictured above stands on the site of the Rowntree brothers' first sweet/candy making factory.

Buy one audio tour guide and get a second free by entering BI123 into the shopping basket page. Select your tour(s) download and away you go!