Thorntons Limited is a British

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

manufacturer owned by the Italian

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

company, Ferrero. It was established in 1911 by William Joseph Thornton and Joseph Thornton, his father, in

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 ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England. When

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became part of the

Mondelez International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...

predecessor Kraft Foods, Thorntons had become the largest confectionery-only parent company in Britain. The company was purchased by the Italian firm Ferrero in June 2015 for £112. Until and during the Second World War, the company was an established

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and

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maker. With post war rationing ending, the group's primary focus shifted to Belgian and

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-style chocolate in sets.A minority of sales is in novelties, decoration and café outlet remittance
Full accounts made up to the 31st August 2018
Thorntons Ltd Annual Report 2018, Companies House. Retrieved 16 May 2020Clark, Andrew (7 May 2011)
"Thorntons: why the chocolate-maker has gone into meltdown"
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. The Guardian (theguardian.com). Retrieved 11 July 2015.

History

The Thornton family

Thorntons began in Sheffield in 1911, the business being started by William Joseph Thornton (1870–1919), who co opened the company's first shop, at 159 Norfolk Street. William Norman Hinsby Thornton (1896–1984), his son, became the manager, at the age of just 15. Later in the company's history, Peter Thornton (grandson of the founder) served as chairman, but was dismissed from the role in June 1987.

2009–present – trading difficulties

After rapid expansion, the results of 2009 showed turnover increasing to £214.8 million, but operating profit decreasing to £7.94 million. A perennial seasonality in sales disappointed strategists and employees. 35% of the sales were in the seven week period before Christmas, and 10%, shortly before

Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...

. The scale of impact of this, on manufacturing and service, are more pronounced than the average in the food sector, necessitating temporary staffing. Jonathon Hart joined the business, as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, in January 2011. Following another resultant strategic review, in June 2011, Thorntons announced it would close between 120 and 180, of its shops. It was announced in June 2015 that chocolate producer Ferrero would buy Thorntons, for £112 million. Thorntons Ltd are 75% owned by Ferholding UK Ltd, which, in turn, is controlled by Giovanni Ferrero (who holds over 50% of voting rights). With Ferrero investment into the business to try to increase revenue, through the financial year of 2017 to 2018 sales and production increased. Fewer new shops were opened with some existing locations diversified into cafés, selling a range of both eat-in and take-away food and drinks alongside the traditional confectionary lines. In 2020, Thorntons won the Lausanne Index Prize - Bronze Award. On 15 March 2021, it was announced that all 61 remaining Thorntons retail stores were to close after UK government

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic restrictions lifted. The pandemic restrictions had meant that all Thorntons retail stores had closed for much of 2020, and the business was now going to restructure in order to move sales both online and to focus retailing on

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

distribution channels. While announcing that the physical Thorntons stores would close, the company stated that it had seen a 70% increase in sales through the business

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

compared to the previous year.

Publicity

The current, main advertising slogans are: Thorntonscat

*''Chocolate Heaven Since 1911'' *''It's The Thorntons That Counts'' Thorntons set up a very rare edible

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

, on 3 April 2007, which exceeded four metres length; and – it was framed outside their shop in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, London, and was eaten, within the space of just three hours. The structure included ten chocolate bunnies, seventy two giant chocolate eggs, and 128 chocolate panels, each weighing . The promotion sought to regain custom lost to competition and a move away from deluxe chocolate gifts, as well as poor sales over the summer of 2006.

Notes

References

;Citations *The Strategy Report of Thorntons plc, Birmingham Business School, 2007 *''Thorntons, My Life in the Family Business'' by Peter Thornton, Published by Tomahawk Press, October 2009 www.tomahawkpress.com

External links

* {{Ferrero Ferrero SpA 1911 establishments in England British brands British chocolate companies British companies established in 1911 Food and drink companies established in 1911 Companies based in Derbyshire Companies based in Sheffield Yorkshire cuisine