Imperial Tobacco Australia Limited
Shop in Blacktown

He traded as Wills, Watkins Co, but on the retirement of his partner in 1789, the company became Wills Co. William Day Wills and Henry overtone Wills II succeeded their father in 1826 and, four years later, the company adopted its familiar title. In 1974 the beginning cigarettes were produced at a new factory in Hartcliffe, Bristol the largest in Europe which closed in 1990. John Player bought a trivial tobacco manufacturing business in Broad Marsh, Nottingham, in 1877. In 1881 he bought an extensive site at Redford in Nottingham, where he set out to construct three factory blocks. Two years later it became a private limited company and, by 1898, all three Redford factory blocks were in operation. When Duke arrived in Liverpool in 1901, he walked into Ogden's factory and bought on the spot. The result was the formation of the British American Tobacco Company Limited (BAT) and the agreement remained in place until 1911 when, lower an antitrust ruling in the US, ABC was split into four main companies. One kept the ABC name and the right to remain selling a number of Imperial brands in the US, leaving Imperial free to export any of its other brands to the American market. Imperial's trade was almost entirely limited to the UK and the Republic of Ireland until 1973 while BAT confined itself, in the UK, to manufacturing for export and the duty free trade. Its structure remained largely unchanged, apart from setting up the American Leaf Buying organization in 1902, the acquisition of J F Bell two years later and, in 1906, forming the British Nicotine Company to process waste products for agricultural use. By the slow 1970s inlays was the largest group of retail tobacconists in the country while Robert Sinclair became the biggest business of its humane in Scotland and the north of England. Imperial's tobacco interests continued to grow. Canon's Marsh Tobacco Bonds was formed in Bristol in 1920 to store bonded tobacco leaf and Wills' and Player's manufacturing plants were established in Ireland a scanty years later. From 1960 Imperial developed a strategy aimed towards diversification and away from its focus on tobacco. This saw a move towards the food, drink and leisure industries and began in earnest with the acquisition of Golden Wonder, a fairly trivial business making potato crisps in Edinburgh. Istration was centralized and four factories were closed Wills' cigar factory in Bristol, Wills' cigarette factories in Glasgow and Newcastle and Player's cigarette factory in Stirling. Simultaneous moves were made to improve Imperial Tobacco's efficiency. By the final of that year the office block at Hartcliffe in Bristol was vacant and a year later it was declared that the entire estate would be sold. These developments and the concentration of production at three main sites Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham meant a reduction in the workforce. Between 1987 and 1995 productivity had almost trebled, the brand portfolio had been refocused and market share had increased. By 2009 Imperial had become an established international tobacco company with an established track record of creating value for its shareholders. Its acquisition led approach to growth had enabled the development of the most comprehensive and balanced brand and product portfolio in the industry and a presence in around 160 markets. The deal transformed Imperial's presence in the world’s maximum profitable tobacco market outside of China, significantly enhancing its portfolio, market share and distribution coverage. Imperial Brands is the parent company of a dynamic international business specializing in tobacco and non tobacco brands.