Early history and company organisation
The history of Robinsons
began in 1839 when John Bradbury Robinson took over a Mr Fletcher's
business manufacturing pill boxes. John B Robinson was a son of William
Robinson and Ann Bradbury and was born in 1802. Before embarking on the
pill box business, he had spent 21 years as a chemist in Packer's Row,
Chesterfield. Although Mr Fletcher had been based in Bradford Dale near
Middleton by Youlgreave, John B Robinson transferred the manufacture to
Wheatbridge Lawn in Brampton. This house had been built by John's
grandfather William Robinson in 1770 but had been leased for many years
to the Smith family, proprietors of the Griffin foundry in Brampton and
major employers in the Brampton area from the 1770s to the 1830s. In
1833, John's father William Robinson bought back Wheatbridge House and
adjoining property for £550 from the Smiths.
John B Robinson was
joined in the business by his son William Bradbury Robinson (1826-1911),
and father and son became partners in 1854 under the name John B
Robinson and Son. In 1858, John B Robinson's second son Charles Portland
Robinson (1844-1916) joined the firm. On the death of John B Robinson
in 1869, Charles Portland became a partner and the company's name was
changed to Robinson and Sons. On 25 Oct 1893 the business was converted
into a limited company. The first three directors were William B
Robinson, Charles P Robinson and William's son William B Robinson II.
William B Robinson I became the company's first Chairman. During the
twentieth century the firm remained under the direction of various
family members. Charles P Robinson was Chairman from 1911 until his
death in 1916. He was followed in that role by William B Robinson II
(1917), Charles W Robinson (1924), Colonel Victor O Robinson (1945),
Ernest B Robinson (1962), Charles P Robinson II (1973), and Robert
Robinson (1978). Other Robinson family members took on roles as
Directors. It was not until 1988 that the first non-Robinson Chairman
was appointed: Tony K Slipper, formerly of Cadbury-Schweppes, who worked
closely with Philip Robinson who had been appointed as Chief Executive
the previous year.
The firm's first products were round pill boxes.
In 1846 a square box department was founded, and the following year the
manufacture of willow-boxes (also known as chip boxes) was begun under
the direction of William B Robinson. By the 1850s a warehouse had been
opened at 17 Bouverie Street, London, for distribution of the products,
but by 1854 the chip box business was failing and William was keen to
find something else on which to concentrate. The Crimean War had led to
greater demand for medical dressings, and William bought a second hand
lint frame, studied it, and invented the world's first power-operated
lint frame. From that time on, Robinsons developed two separate
departments: the box department and the cotton, later called dressings,
department.
In 1954 the separation of boxes and dressings was
formalised by the establishment of divisional boards. The Box Division
was re-named the Packaging Division in September 1965, while the
Dressings Division was re-named the Healthcare Division between June and
July 1987. Further changes occurred in 1988 when Robinsons and Sons Ltd
adopted a new corporate identity and the name 'Robinson'.
Boxes/Packaging Division
Pill
box manufacture had begun in 1839, rigid boxes in 1846, willow chip
boxes in 1847, and turned wood boxes in 1859. In 1880, production of
willow and turned wood boxes ceased. At first, Robinsons' business was
carried out in the house at Wheatbridge, and later in various stables
and outhouses. The Holme Brook Works were purchased in 1884 for
production of pill boxes. In 1890 production of folding boxes was begun
and in 1892 a printing department was opened. Lithographic printing
started in 1901. The folding box department later transferred from
Wheatbridge to the Holme Brook Works. In 1920, following a great
increase in the number of Robinsons' employees, land near Wheatbridge
Works was purchased and a new factory built, called Portland Works. The
folding box department moved into Portland Works in the 1920s and 1930s,
while the manufacture of round boxes was based at Wheatbridge Mills. By
the mid 20th century, Robinsons' factories were spread over a large
area by the side of the river Hipper in Brampton.
In 1924, John B
Robinson II invented the 'Little John Drum' spiral tube box. Spiral tube
winding production started in 1938, and gained immense importance when
the Rowntrees order for 'Smarties' tubes was obtained in 1956. The box
division suffered a blow in 1969 when the National Health Service ceased
to use round boxes for storage of pills and ointments, but in the 1970s
packaging diversified into plastic products, predominantly by the
purchase of I E White, later re-named Robinson White Plastics. The
changes in the packaging market led to the closure of the square box
department and the Holme Brook Works in 1981. In 1988, Robinson
Packaging was re-organised and a Gift Products department established in
Leeds.
Dressings division
The work of the cotton department began
with the manufacture of lint in 1855, and progressed to other surgical
dressings. The entire process, from spinning, weaving and bleaching of
the raw materials to manufacture and sale of the finished product, was
carried out by Robinsons. The Walton Works were purchased in 1896, and
in 1899 the old Walton corn mill property and Walton Mill Dam were
bought in order to get water for bleaching the cotton products. New
bleach works were built at Whaley Bridge in 1950 in partnership with the
company Edward Hall and Brother, and bleaching at Walton ceased in
1953.
Robinsons began the large-scale commercial production of
surgical products such as bandages, gauze and cotton wool. Production of
gauze tissue was begun in 1884, patents were taken out for the
production of the first sanitary towels in the 1880s, and in 1895 a
patent was acquired for the manufacture of cellulose wadding. In 1897
production of Gamgee Tissue started, following Dr Gamgee's assignment of
his patent to Robinsons. Robinsons also began to produce antiseptic
dressings at this time.
The late 1940s and 1950s were a time of great
importance as the
'Mene' sanitary towel, the
'Paddi-Pad' disposable
nappy, and the
'Paddi' waterproof disposable nappy holder began
production. The
'Nikini' sanitary towel brand was launched in 1960.
In
the early 1980s, the dressings division enjoyed success with the
Cosifits disposable diaper and the 'Soft and Pure' range of healthcare
and cosmetic products, but in the late 1980s the division was
re-organised and re-named 'Healthcare' to reflect changing priorities.)
The diapers side of the business became a separate joint venture company
in partnership with DSG.
Subsidiaries
The first subsidiary
company established by Robinsons was Cellulose Wadding Supplies Ltd, set
up in 1929 to deal with the sales side of the cellulose wadding
department. In the 1930s, Australian and New Zealand subsidiaries
(Cotton Dressings Proprietary Ltd, and R O Chesterfield Ltd) were set up
for the manufacture of cotton wool. Other, already existing, companies
were bought up by Robinsons in the middle part of the 20th century and
sold off in the 1980s as the firm decided to concentrate on core
business activities. These included J J Blow Ltd, manufacturers of milk
filters and dairy equipment, with a factory on Oldfield Road in
Chesterfield, which was purchased in 1941 and sold in 1986; Edward
Taylor Ltd, medical and surgical adhesive plaster manufacturers, of
Monton near Eccles in Manchester, bought in 1959 and closed in 1990;
Pressure Sealed Plastics (PSP), which was bought in 1966, re-named
Flexus Plastics Ltd in 1987 and sold in 1989; Spire Transport, also
purchased in 1966 and sold in 1988; and I E White, based in
Kirby-in-Ashfield, which was bought in 1974, and re-organised as
Robinson Packaging - Plastic Products in 1988.
Employee welfare
Robinson
and Sons was well known in the Chesterfield area for its enlightened
attitude to employee welfare. In 1928 the firm bought Field House (the
former residence of the late W B Robinson II) and built a large canteen
known as Bradbury Hall, which was the venue for the employees' welfare
and canteen facilities. Bradbury Hall closed in January 1984. In the
1920s the Directors of the company, in particularly Philip Moffat
Robinson, also established the Wheatbridge Housing Association in order
to provide low-cost housing for the workforce. Many clubs and societies
for Robinsons' employees, such as the Sports Club and the Amateur
Operatic and Dramatic Society, were also set up during the 1920s and
flourished for many years. The company magazine, 'The Link', kept the
workforce abreast of current developments.
Robinsons
