Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

Registered UK Charity (No. 115342)

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 162,253 pages of information and 244,496 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Difference between revisions of "Hovis"

From Graces Guide
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== Sources of Information ==
== Sources of Information ==
<references/>
<references/>
* Hovis history http://www.hovisbakery.co.uk/pdf/Hovis_History.pdf
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovis] Wikipedia
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovis] Wikipedia



Revision as of 14:25, 31 August 2010

March 1896.
October 1925.
January 1929.
September 1936.
November 1942.

of 34 Victoria Street, London

Hovis is a UK brand of flour and bread, now owned by Premier Foods.


  • 1886 Richard "Stoney" Smith (1836-1900) developed a method of including the wheatgerm in the bread, something which had traditionally been excluded by bakers. He collaborated with Thomas Fitton, a Macclesfield miller whose company S. Fitton and Sons developed the brand, milled the flour and sold it to other bakers (along with, later, Hovis branded baking tins).
  • 1887 The process was patented on 6 October 1887.
  • 1895 The name "Hovis" was invented by London student Herbert Grimes in a national competition set by S. Fitton and Sons to find a trading name for their bread, which used a patent flour that was rich in wheat germ. Grimes coined the word from the Latin phrase hominis vis – "the strength of man".
  • 1898 The Hovis-Bread Flour Co was registered on 2 February, to acquire the milling and flour business of S. Fitton and Son. [1]
  • 1900 Richard Smith died
  • 1912 Distribution of flour to thousands of bakers was an important part of the business. In 1912 a Leyland 2-ton petrol-engined van was purchased and more followed, displacing the original horse-drawn delivery vehicles.
  • 1918 The Hovis-Bread Flour Co became Hovis Limited.
  • Substantial advertising campaigns and other means of attracting public attention were deployed. Partnering with other products was used, starting with Brooke Bond tea in 1901, Bovril in 1926 and Keiller's marmalade in 1932. Hovis was an early user of television advertising from 1955.

See Also

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Sources of Information

  1. The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908