Big business at Spillers mill

WHEN it came to big business Spillers were among the top companies in Hull. For big meant successful and the huge building which dominated the Cleveland Street area laid claim to the fact.

Long gone now, the Spillers’ mill had replaced the original building on the site on which work began in 1898, completion following two years later with 30 sacks of flour (almost four tons) being produced every hour.

The mill was built and originally owned by Leeds mill owners Rishworth, Ingleby and Lofthouse. Spillers arrived on the scene in the early 1920s.

Production increased but came to a sudden end on July 18, 1941 when the building was destroyed in a bombing raid.

In that same raid a water main in the middle of Cleveland Street was hit and a silo containing 35,000 ton of grain was said to be a danger point as it was feared that water would cause the grain to swell and burst the walls of the silo allowing grain to fall into the River Hull and impede navigation.

Instead it was decided to let the grain burn but to damp it down and remove it from the bottom of the silo, the result being that thousands of tons were saved.

Rebuilding the mill began in 1950 and took three years to complete. By 1972 the mill was producing 800 tons of flour a week and between 750 and 1,000 tons of animal farm foods.

At that time Spillers-french Milling Ltd, which ran the mill, was one of the operating companies within the Spillers group and had 17 flour mills in 11 centres across the country. But major change was on the way.

In 1976 the farm foods factory which had opened in 1939 and was part of the Cleveland Street plant, was closed with the loss of 80 jobs as a result of “serious” financial losses.

Another blow to jobs came in 1978 when Spillers closed its Wheeler Street bakery, putting 160 people out of work.

The story ended on October 21, 1983 with the announcement that the company was closing the Cleveland Street mill with the loss of 90 jobs. At that time the mill produced flour and semolina.

Semolina was not only every school pupil’s traditional (and widely hated) pudding but is also a major ingredient in pasta and some snack foods.