Catalogue description BURTON, SON AND SANDERS LTD, IPSWICH

Burton, Son and Sanders Ltd, Ipswich

Records presented 21 October 1993 Acc No 10,335

• Ipswich, Suffolk

The company was established in 1824 by Charles Burton who purchased a retail grocery business situated in Tavern St, Ipswich. The business gradually expanded as successive members of the family ran the concern. The business dealt in the full range of commodities used by the baker and confectioner, supplying such items as butter, lard, jams, peels, spices, sugars, gelatine, arrowroot and imported ground almonds.

In the 1880s the firm began producing specialised products for the bakery and confectionery trades and also began trading on a national basis. In 1897 Burton & Son and Evat Sanders & Son of Colchester amalgamated to form Burton Son and Sanders Ltd, a private limited company. Business expanded and branches were opened throughout the country. In 1920 the company became a Public Limited Liability Company - Burton Son & Sanders Ltd. In the 1950s and 1960s various companies were acquired and thus a number of diverse interests added to the traditional bakery and grocery business.

Burton Son & Sanders Ltd merged with Matthews Holdings Ltd in 1970 and began to concentrate on exports. In 1977 Matthews Holdings Ltd was purchased by Thomas Borthwick & Sons Ltd and the Ipswich company specialised in edible cake decorations. Following a decline in profitability Borthwicks sold the Burton business in 1993 in two parts, but mainly to Unilever.

This collection of documents and photographs was assembled at the time of the company's closure by Mr D A Pryke, who was a director of the company for 20 years and then latterly a Managing Director. The records have been left as assembled and arranged by Mr Pryke.

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