Founded Carlisle (1831 (1831)) | Founder Jonathan Dodgson Carr | |
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Headquarters Carlisle, United Kingdom Products Biscuits (United Biscuits), flour, animal feed, fuel, engineering (Carr’s Milling Industries) | ||
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Carr's is the name of foodstuff and agricultural brands historically derived from founder Jonathan Dodgson Carr, but now owned and marketed by more than one separate company.
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History
In 1831, Carr formed a small bakery and biscuit factory in the English city of Carlisle; he received a royal warrant in 1841. Within fifteen years of being founded, it was the largest baking business in Britain. His business was both a mill and a bakery, an early example of vertical integration, and he produced bread by night and biscuits by day. The biscuits were loosely based on dry biscuits used on long voyages by sailors. They could be kept crisp and fresh in tins, and despite their fragility could easily be transported to other parts of the country by canal and railway.
Jonathan Carr protested against the Corn Laws, which imposed steep tariffs on imported wheat, keeping the price of British wheat artificially high. This meant that bread was expensive, even in times of famine. Carr died in 1884, but by 1885, the company made 128 varieties of biscuit and employed 1000 workers.
In 1894 the company was registered as Carr and Co. Ltd., but reverted to a private company in 1908, and Carrs Flour Mills Limited was incorporated after acquiring the flour milling assets.
His four sons were less skilled at managing the business, but it remained in the family until 1931. It later became part of Cavenham Foods until 1971 when it came under the ownership of McVities, part of the United Biscuits group.
Among the members of the Carr family who worked for the business was former Commando Capt Richard Carr MBE, who was decorated for repeated escape attempts from Italian and German PW camps during the Second World War.
Business
Since 1972 the Carr's biscuit factory has been part of United Biscuits, and the Carr's branded products are marketed in the USA by the Kellogg Company. The factory today is known officially as McVities but still known locally as Carr's.
Carr's Flour Mills and agricultural supplies business are owned by Carr's Milling Industries plc, which is still based in Carlisle. Its products have recently appeared in UK supermarkets through their Carr's Breadmaker flour range. Carr's Milling Industries also own companies involved in light engineering.
In 2005 the Caldewgate factory in Carlisle lost 2 months production due to flooding. The News & Star stated that it was reopened with a £1 million Government grant.
In March 2012, it was announced that Carr's Table Water had lost its royal warrant due to 'changing tastes' in the Royal Household.
In January 2016 United Biscuits announced that the factory in Caldewgate, Carlisle, had experienced 5 feet of floodwater on 6 December which damaged the brick ovens and would result in product shortages on retail shelves. After closing the works for one month to repair and clear flood damage, production and distribution gradually resumed in spring 2016.