The Rise & Fall of British Tobacco Manufacturing: Hartcliffe Factory

W.D. & H.O. Wills (founded in 1786) was a British tobacco importer and manufacturer formed in Bristol, England. It was the first UK company to mass-produce cigarettes and one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco along with John Player & Sons.

In 1901 thirteen British tobacco companies discussed the American Tobacco Company building a factory in the UK to bypass taxes. The Imperial Tobacco Company was incorporated on 10 December 1901 with seven of the directors being members of the Wills family. Imperial remains one of the world's largest tobacco companies.

Benevolence

W.D. & H.O. Wills established a reputation for integrity, fair dealing and consideration for employees, as well as for high quality products. The company pioneered canteens for the workers, free medical care, sports facilities and paid holidays.  

Hartcliffe Factory

In the 1960s, Wills produced 120,000 cigarettes every hour and with the popularity of ‘Strand’ and ‘Embassy’ brands, the company’s future seemed secure.

In 1974, WD and HO Wills opened Europe’s largest cigarette manufacturing plant on land at Hartcliffe near Bristol. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2005/12/23/pwaod_cigarettes_feature.shtml

Health Awareness & Duty on Tobacco

But with increased health awareness and a steady rise in excise duty, the golden age of cigarettes was over by the end of 70s, and despite the investment made by Wills, production tailed-off dramatically, forcing the Board to cut back while the nation cut down.

In the end, the Hartcliffe factory – despite the superlatives – was too much of a drag on the company’s health and at the end of the millennium it was flattened to make way for a retail park.