Thorntons
Thorntons plc.
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legal form | Aktiengesellschaft (Public Limited Company) |
founding | 1911 |
Seat | Alfreton , Derbyshire , UK |
management | Mike R. Davies ( CEO ) |
Number of employees | k. A. |
sales | £ 167.1m (2003) |
Branch | food |
Website | www.thorntons.co.uk |
Thorntons plc. is one of the UK's largest chocolate manufacturers . The company specializes in fine chocolates and toffees .
Companies
Thorntons was founded in 1911 by Joseph Thornton as a confectionery in Sheffield. Since then, the company has established itself as the most successful manufacturer of chocolate specialties in Great Britain. Attempts to gain a foothold in continental Europe, especially France and Belgium, have been made over the past 20 years, but have failed. Since then, the company has been making targeted efforts to gain publicity in Great Britain, where it is still based.
Although sales rose to £ 167.1 million in 2003 , revenues fell to £ 9.4 million. This negative trend was particularly evident for the company in the fact that 35% of the income was generated in the run-up to Christmas, when temporary workers are now employed to cope with the onslaught. A broad advertising campaign was launched in response to this grievance.
In this context, the probably first completely chocolate billboard should be mentioned, which broke records with dimensions of 4.4 m × 2.9 m and a weight of 390 kg and was a great advertising success. It consisted of 10 chocolate bunnies, 72 chocolate eggs and 128 chocolate panels, each weighing about 2 kg.
Thorntons has been part of the Ferrero Group since 2015 , which aims to expand its market position in the United Kingdom.
Products
Thorntons are famous for their Continental and Special Toffees, which make up about half of sales. Thorntons also produces pralines, various types of chocolate bars and chocolate bars, all of which are sold under their own name in around 400 company-owned stores or via the Internet.