Vital factory, years ahead of its time, is still remembered
‘IT REFLECTED ON THE INDUSTRIAL POWER OF THE CITY AT THE TIME’
A BUSINESS which has operated in the city since 1871, becoming “synonymous with Nottingham”, had one of its factories held up as an example of modern processes nearly 100 years after its founding.
John Player and Sons’ Horizon factory, formerly on Thane Road, Lenton Industrial Estate, was the last tobacco factory in England before production moved overseas in 2016.
Built to take over production from the original factory in Radford, Horizon – built at a cost of £14 million in 1972 – Thane Road was one of the most modern factories of the time, due to its machinery and the amount of light inside the building, setting it apart from older Victorian factories.
The business – founded by John Player in 1877 – grew so rapidly that, within seven years, he bought a factory that he expanded with other blocks in Radford.
Now demolished, the factory remains a vital part of Nottingham’s industrial history.
Daniel Fitch, from Bulwell, is now 42 and worked in the factory from 2003 to 2016 at its distribution centre a walking distance from the factory.
He said: “When I started the Horizon factory was still there but arguably past its heyday. We went in there quite often, even if it was just a trip to the canteen.
“I remember it having really high ceilings and there being a constant bustle of noise inside.
“The products from the factory would come down an elevator and eventually end up at the distribution centre where they would be sent out.
“That building is still there where a scaled-down operation is still running.
“I started in the warehouse and worked my way up to be a ‘greycoat’ which was basically like a line manager role.
“There were four floors that people worked on in the factory and there were machines where you could see the products in lots of different stages.
“I remember it even had its own doctor’s surgery.
“I grew up in Radford near the old factories and it’s definitely a brand that synonymous with the city.”
The Imperial Tobacco Company was formed in 1901 as merging of several leading British tobacco manufacturers into one larger company to fend off the threat of takeover by an aggressive American competitor.
John Player & Sons was one of the founding companies, and the Player sons served on Imperial’s first board of directors.
Another former worker is Councillor Sally Longford, deputy leader of Nottingham City Council. She said: “I worked in the offices but I remember going there for work.
“The building won the Financial Times award for industrial architecture in 1973 and was very well recognised.
“It was very spacious and well lit inside. The old factory in Radford was very traditional and quite dark with low ceilings. Horizon was very different when it opened.
“I mainly worked in the offices on Players Street, but the brand itself is so well remembered across the city. Some of the old packets used to have pictures of Nottingham Castle on them so it’s really well associated with the city.
“The company is well remembered because it looked after its staff well with good pay and a good pension scheme.”
The site, off Clifton
Boulevard, was sold to Henry Boot Developments (HBD) in 2017 where plans are still being finalised for a multi-use enterprise project that is planned to create hundreds of jobs.
Ian Wells, vice-chair of Nottingham Civic Society, said: “It was built and operational by 1972 and was really innovative for its time.
“It was built to be adaptable and expandable as industrial processes changed.
“It was very well designed inside and some parts were designed by the same person who contributed to the leading cruise liners at the time, like the Queen Elizabeth II.
“It reflected on the industrial power of the city at the time that is now largely gone, apart from companies like Boots.
“The architecture style is known as ‘brutalism’ and we tried to get the building listed before it was demolished.
That was unsuccessful, sadly.” A spokesperson for Imperial Brands and Imperial Tobacco added: “Until its closure, Horizon produced the vast majority of our cigarettes and fine-cut tobacco brands for the UK market. “The site also manufactured a small number of cigarettes for other markets, including Spain and Ireland.
“The main brands produced there were Lambert & Butler, Richmond, Embassy, Superkings, Regal, JPS and Golden Virginia.”
We tried to get the building listed before it ws demolished. That was unsuccessful, sadly
Ian Wells