Fitch Lovell
Fitch Lovell was a British food manufacturing, transportation, distribution and retail conglomerate
1784 James Fitch (1762–1818) opened a cheesemaking business in Leadenhall, London
1839 Had premises in 66 Bishopgate, 83 Leadenhall and 98 Union Street, London
1846 Further premises in 33 New Gloucester Street in Hoxton, 9 Coalville Terrace in Chelsea and 11 High Street, Newington Butts.
1908 Incorporated as Fitch and Son
1941 Acquired Hales Home Bakeries from its owner Frank Hale.
1950 Acquired Far Famed Cake Co from Meredith and Drew
The company expanded into the butchery market, first buying Keevil and Keevil, a Smithfields meat seller, before buying the Layton & Burkett group in 1950, and expanding the business by purchasing several other London butcher chains.
1958 Fitch and Son merged with Lovell and Christmas, Europe's most important dairy company, to form Fitch Lovell.
1962 Acquired the John Trent company
1962 Merging Famed Cake Co and John Trent Co to form Hales Trent Cakes
1974 Hales Trent Cakes were sold to J. Lyons and Co.
1975 Fitch Lovell purchased the pastry firm Jus-Rol.
1984, it set up Buckingham Foods as a sandwich manufacturer
1985 Acquired Jacksons of Piccadilly owners of the supposedly original recipe from 1830 for Earl Grey Tea and promptly sold them on to Twinings.
1985 Acquired the frozen fish group Bluecrest.
1988 Acquired UYC, a food services company from Guinness
Other Fitch Lovell business were Farmers Table Chicken (based in Witham, Essex), Blue Cap (contract distribution), Stocks Lovell (bacon supplier to supermarkets), Dixons (pork processing), Newforge Foods of Gateacre, Liverpool, who held the licence to produce SPAM in the UK as well as L Noels in Oswaldtwistle. Also David Greig (Supermarket)
1990 Booker Group purchased the company