23 juin 2008
IMPERIAL'S REIGN REACHES ITS END
Imperial Tobacco is closing its last factory in Bristol Bristol University Bristol Wills Building Cabot Tower City Museum Art Gallery Homeopathic Hospital
The legacy of their generous endowments can still be clearly seen in landmark
structures such as the
Their
trade put money into these and countless other projects, as well as into the
pockets of thousands of workers engaged in the production of the cigarettes and
tobacco products which were puffed by millions right around the globe. Winterstoke Road Spain Winterstoke Road Bristol Virginia America Avon Bristol Bristol Europe 57 acres East
Street Upton
Road Bristol Winterstoke
Road
Now, finally, all that is about to come to an end.
The axe is falling on Imperial Tobacco's cigar factory in
All that will remain is an Imperial administrative headquarters in Southville,
not far away from what was once the hub of a vast business empire.
Today, as tobacco use is subject to endless assault and constraint from a
Government still, ironically, happy to benefit from its taxation, and those who
smoke in public are bracketed as social outcasts, the decision to shut up shop
in
But where did it all begin? Just how did
For that you have to go back to the 16th century when tobacco - dubbed
"the noxious weed" - was imported from British colonies in
Up the
It was founded in 1786 by Henry Overton Wills and was originally known as
Wills, Watkins and Co. It only became WD and HO Wills in 1830 and traded as
such until 1982.
However, it was also part of Imperial Tobacco, a company formed in 1901 to
fight off American competitors. It was an amalgamation of Wills and a dozen
other tobacco factories. Wills, though, kept its name as a division of
Imperial.
It took a war to hook a nation on cigarettes. The Crimean War.
Troops fighting there picked up the Turkish habit of rolling tobacco up into
thin paper before lighting and inhaling. As a consequence, in 1881, the first
cigarette appeared.
Wills opened a succession of factories. Its East Street, Bedminster, one
arrived in 1886, others in Ashton and Raleigh Road, Southville, followed.
Business was booming, with sales of brands such as the world-famous Wills Woodbines,
In the early 1970s Wills took the logical step of any thriving firm. It upped
sticks and moved out of town - to Hartcliffe. Bedminster and Southville
economies were devastated. Wills workers were essential to the businesses in
this part of town. It took years for the area to recover.
Yet the Hartcliffe complex was truly spectacular, both in its concept and its
operation. It was the largest of its kind anywhere in
Its vast assembly hall was unique. there were no internal supports and it was
the size of a number of football pitches. Adjacent was an office block as well
as the sort of facilities Wills workers had become used to - their own
supermarket, post office, medical centre, dentist, bank, six restaurants and
lounges, even a bus station. It cost £15m, covered
Many must have viewed it as a job for life. It always had been - surely, it
always would be. They could not have been more wide of the mark.
In 1982, Imperial had abolished the old Wills board. Four years later Imperial
was taken over by the Hanson Trust. By 1991 it was shut.
Drive by the site today and this spectacular and innovative factory has been
replaced by an out-of-town retail park. Nearby work proceeds apace on
converting the old shell of what was once the landscaped office block into an
apartments scheme.
Back in Bedminster, the
Imperial HQ is close by in
That, however, should not detract from the fact that the company's decision to
shut up shop at its last remaining
11 avril 2008
NY's Cigarette Tax May Hurt Businesses
A hike in New York’s cigarette tax has at least one mom and pop's shop worried about sales. The hike is part of the state budget passed on Wednesday.
Sue Richter owns a convenient store in Pine Valley. She says the cigarette tax increase will cut her cigarettes sales by half. Richter says that's what happened in 2002 when the state last raised it.
“It really has impacted my business quite a bit because when people don't come in for cigarettes, they also don't come in to buy their soda, gas, or other things so my total sales go down,” says Richter.
New York State lawmakers approved the tax hike in this year's budget. The tax will go up by a $ 1.25, making the total $2.75 per pack of cigarettes. That puts New York ahead of New Jersey for the nation's highest cigarette tax. The move will raise about $265 million for health programs. 
“I typically sell 200 cartons a week and I expect that to go down to about 100. That's what happened last time when the state legislature put such a high tax increase,” says Richter.
Smokers aren't surprised by the hike and say they'll continue to pay for a habit they enjoy.
“To me it really doesn't make a difference. I mean if you smoke, you just got to hustle a little a bit harder if you want cigarettes,” says Andrew Owens from Elmira.
“I probably have to go get a job and then buy cigarettes that way,” says Zach Fields of Elmira.
“I'm cutting back anyway but I think that's crazy. Besides most people are going to PA any to buy cigarettes,” says P.C Benson from Elmira.
Again, in New York you'll pay an additional $2.75 on a pack of cigarettes. By comparison, you'll only pay an additional $1.35 in Pennsylvania. The new cigarettes tax hike in New York will take effect June 3rd.