Be-Ro is a food manufacturing business, formerly based in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
.
History
The company was founded by Thomas Bell as a
grocery and
tea company in
Longhorsley north of
Newcastle in 1875.
Bell had experimented with rising agents on
flour
Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...
in baking and, from that, produced the world's first self-raising flour.
[ He founded the ''Bells Royal'' works which sold the Bell's Royal Flour.][ In 1907, Bell renamed his product "Be-Ro", a portmanteau of "Bell" and "Royal", and registered the new name under the Trade Marks Act 1905. He started in his own right in small premises in the yard of the Black Boy Hotel adjoining the Groat Market in the centre of Newcastle. As well as manufacturing baking powder and self-raising flour, he produced a health salt which he later discontinued. He also packed and marketed dried fruit, cereals, tea and coffee using such names as T.B. Royalty, Black Diamond, and Belsun.
The company then moved into larger premises in Low Friar street and, after that, to Bath Lane. Thomas Bell died in 1925 and his descendants continued to expand the area covered by the company to include ]Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England.
Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
and the whole of County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
as well as Teesside
Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...
. Depots were later built at Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
, and Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, and in 1931 they decided upon Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
as a base from which to expand into the Midlands
The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...
. Several dozen more depots were either built, bought or rented throughout England and Scotland.
In 1958, Rank-Hovis Ltd acquired the business, which then became part of the newly formed RHM in 1961.[ RHM was taken over by ]Premier Foods
Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The group owns many well-known brands, including Mr Kipling, Ambrosia (food), Ambrosia, Bird's Custard, Angel Delight, Homepride cooking sauces, J. Lyons ...
in March 2007, making Be-Ro a Premier Foods brand.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Official website
Premier Foods brands
British companies established in 1875
Food and drink companies established in 1875
British brands
Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom
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