Birmingham HP Sauce Factory To Close
I’m sorry to have to pass along the following news.
The BBC is reporting today that Heinz will close the HP Sauce factory located in Birmingham, England and relocate it to Holland. This announcement comes only weeks after HP Foods announced the Save the Proper British Cafe campaign as earlier reported.
The Aston HP Sauce factory, described as an icon to the gateway of Birmingham has been part of the community for over 100 years. “I grew up there and remember the smell of HP Sauce, which was part of Birmingham,” said Ken Hardeman, a cabinet member for regeneration at Birmingham City Council. “It is sad, it is a tragedy and it is a loss of what is a really British company. It is somewhat ironic HP will be made in Holland.” Mr Hardeman has pledged that the council will try to help find employment for those who find themselves unemployed as a result of the closure.
Unions describe the factory closure as a “savage decision” against a “loyal workforce”.
Heinz, which bought HP Foods in 2005 claims the factory has become unviable and will close in March of 2007.
A brief history of the origins of HP Sauce can be found here.
John Lamb, from the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: “It is obviously devastating that such an iconic Birmingham brand is going. It is a very visible place as you come in on the main thoroughfare to Birmingham and it is a great pity it is going to close.”
Personal take:
I have to admit that I’m finding this news very disturbing. The decision by Heinz to close the Birmingham HP Sauce factory emphasizes the overall trend of globalization and the general devaluation of the history and tradition which small companies like HP Foods possess. I have learned from someone who in fact works at HP Foods that the people there are a very loyal, stable and happy workforce which the HP Foods company has long enjoyed. It seems a terrible shame to dismantle a British icon in this manner simply to improve an already profitable bottom line!
May 9th, 2006 10:47
It is a disgrace, it is a British institution. I believe that some petition or support should be formed to keep the traditional British HP sauce made in the UK. It should be like Champagne is only able to be made in France. To be made in Holland is a non-sense. I will contact my MP immediately, the DTI and any MP who has any sort of juristiction over such matters. I certainly would cease to purchase their product if not produced in the UK.
May 9th, 2006 11:28
This is just tragic, why do they need to do something like this when HP Brown Sauce is a classic icon of Birmingham and Britain. They always say it is to do with money but Heinz is not so short of cash. They have no respect for history and for British Jobs. Why do the government allow this?! If they stop making it in the UK I will never eat it again.
May 9th, 2006 12:31
The globalisation machine rolls on. Loyalty and hard work count for nothing when labor is cheaper overseas. I will not be buying HP sauce anymore. It may be a small and insignificant gesture, but I have some pride – unlike the faceless execs in charge of these companies.
Official Comment - May 9th, 2006 14:58
I would also be in favour of forming an online petition of some sort on this website if I could be convinced that it might have some benefit. It would be up to visitors to the site to get the word out in support!
May 9th, 2006 16:51
I’m so shocked by this news, it’s just like HP Sauce won’t be HP Sauce anymore if it’s not going to be British anymore. In my opinion it should has never been sold to Heinz. Maybe they’re doing this to give a booste to Heinz Tomato Ketchup again.
May 9th, 2006 18:28
So, will HP’s current promotion be changed to “HP: Proper Dutch”?
Very, very sad indeed.
May 9th, 2006 18:37
So, HP has been made in the Aston plant for over 100 years, Heinz comes along and buys HP last year and they now deem the Aston plant to be “unviable.”
Well, it seems to me that since HP is the number one brown sauce in the UK and known throughout the world, that for an “unviable” plant, Aston seems to be turning out a quite popular and profitable world-class product. Seems quite viable to me!
The way that companies trade hands these days, it is truly a shame that such a decision is being made by the company that owns HP this year. Who knows who will own it in 5, 10, or 20 years time. Perhaps those owners would have given a true chance to making the Aston plant “viable.”
Perhaps some other company (British, perhaps?) will buy HP from Heinz before this debacle is final.
May 10th, 2006 02:17
The problem of HP is a concequence of years of a lack of actions by sucessive governments especially the current one. What chance has any industry got in this country when Mr Brown and his mob are taxing the life out of companies and individuals. Look at the cost of fuel, gas, rates etc. There is a hidden agenda in the governments actions, if you get rid of manufacturing by letting companies move abroad then pollution from factories is removed, if you tax fuel to the point where people can no longer afford to run vehicles, this will reduce pollution further and then our good freind Tony can claim to that Britain is doing its bit for the climate and what a great bloke he is so and its all down to him so can he please be the president of europe. He will be ok but what about all the other poor sods left in the uk. Until the government do something to stop this decline in british industry the situation at HP will be repeated elsewhere until there is nothing left. STOP BUYING HEINZ PRODUCTS AND KICK THIS BUNCH OF CLOWNS OUT OF OFFICE AT THE FIRST OPPERTUNITY or god help us all.
May 10th, 2006 02:18
We all agree then.
(1) This is the way corporate US does business. Buy a successful brand, get it made somewhere cheap. Local jobs - they are someone else’s problem….
(2) The former owners almost certainly had an offer they could not refuse.
I urge everyone to boycott HP Sauce made abroad.
May 10th, 2006 02:51
If we wait until its gone to Holland to boycott HP Sauce then it will simply be too late. Let’s start a campaign to boycott it as of now so that Heinz know what they stand to miss. email all the people in your address book. Together we can get this onto the national agenda and keep HP Sauce british. This is something we can do to hit back. HP Sauce is predominantly sold in the UK if sales here go there is nowhere else they can turn to bolster revenues. Hit em where it hurts, on the balance sheet.
May 10th, 2006 03:37
we are losing too much of our manufacturing industry in this country.i certainly won’t be buying any heinz products when i think of our fellow countrymen being thrown on the scrapheap.it’s all ok all the cheap imports we are getting at the moment.electrical.cars.etc.but one day the bubble will burst as greedy importers start putting their prices up.whats the goverment doing.why have we got a skills shortage and keep letting people into this country.we cannot even give jobs to own people.
May 10th, 2006 10:21
I have been eating HP Sauce since I was a young lad. Even when I lived in Australia for 13 years, I managed to track the stuff down (at first some friends had to bring it in to me), and I have puored it on meals ever since my return. Should Heinz take the production away from the UK I will swap my allegiance even though I will not enjoy the substitute as much. Oh and Heinz, I will not be using any of your brands as a consequense. I hope other will join me.
May 10th, 2006 10:22
I have been eating HP Sauce since I was a young lad. Even when I lived in Australia for 13 years, I managed to track the stuff down (at first some friends had to bring it in to me), and I have puored it on meals ever since my return. Should Heinz take the production away from the UK I will swap my allegiance even though I will not enjoy the substitute as much. Oh and Heinz, I will not be using any of your brands as a consequence. I hope other will join me.
May 12th, 2006 05:49
I don’t even like Heinz beans, always bought HP.
If you post a response on this page can you please also sign the petition on
http://www.brownsauce.org/2006/05/10/sign-the-petition-to-save-the-birmingham-hp-sauce-factory/#comments
Keep HP British. Stop taking our jobs away.
May 13th, 2006 08:57
I’m from Holland and have a taste for HP sauce. However, like with Coca Cola I don’t care WHO produces as long as it’s the original recipe. I am sorry for any jobloss and the end of a tradition but corporate greed is a merely postphoneable inevitability. I think you can boycott but you can’t prevent…hmm maybe it’s all just a big marketing ploy? Anyway, we have a saying here in the Netherlands: “don’t cut your own fingers” e.g. principles don’t taste as good on a bacon sandwich.
btw you all have my sympathy since many of our traditional sauces etc. have also been deported over the years and though it’s irrational to do so (see my statement on top) it leaves one emptied for a while..
May 13th, 2006 19:51
Honestly, in my opinion, I don’t see anything wrong
in opening an HP Sauce factory in Holland. But to
close the Mother Factory where it all started over
100 years ago and has done so well for all this time
that’s a mortal sin. People who thinks otherwise I
consider them as people with no culture and without
respect for history. Now I’m a person who’s not from
the UK. I come from Malta and Culture and History
means a lot to us. I express my deepest sympathy for
Birmingham who did so well through the years and made
such a worldwide success. It’s very unfair.
Maybe later on we will see a Windmill instead of
Houses Of Parliament on the label.
MANDY from Malta.
May 15th, 2006 09:59
Keep HP Sauce British!
May 21st, 2006 12:50
HP Belongs in Birmingham so keep it in Birmingham, if HP moves we will loose our British heritage and therefore i will not consume the Sauce if it is moved to Holland, HP’s home is in Aston Birmingham so keep it there!!! Wake up Heinz or you will loose you loyal customers like myself