{{Short description|British food company}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Use British English|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox company | name = British Sugar plc | logo = BritishSugar.png | former_name = British Sugar Corporation Limited (1936{{endash}}1982)<ref name="CompaniesHouse">{{Cite web |date=1936-06-12 |title=BRITISH SUGAR PLC overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00315158 |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Companies House |language=en}}</ref> | type = Subsidiary | foundation = 1936 | location_city = Peterborough | location_country = England, United Kingdom | location = <!--modifies "Headquarters" entry--> | locations = 5 | key_people = Keith Packer (managing director) | area_served = United Kingdom | industry = Sugar beet processing | products = Sugar<br/>Bioethanol<br/>Animal feed<br/>Topsoil<br/>Soil conditioners | services = | revenue = {{increase}} £714.1 million (2021)<ref name=results>{{cite web|url=https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/byB_aGhhVP8DvV6qLRsD9DvihBDsgiapU-oSpaIxh8k/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3HJEXBVLB%2F20240104%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240104T165620Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjENz%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIGCUyPffyPcjROKUrdTdt%2F5Eb2ihW3B7bwo2lb7c%2BNcxAiEAgoFEM%2BcdcfwHNMMgt%2BtYf%2BFPDUqLBQhpNtLOPi7nk%2BcquwUIdRAEGgw0NDkyMjkwMzI4MjIiDPDhzLwxS4UxxijgOCqYBTjS08R4%2B0DutAHChvXIom3J%2B2atjzFkHAdIUkx1gj6%2BRMUlWGTatnsSIjMRsqFej86B5mrrXsyfYFJKgfgF92xyEqNltfhozwiTTRXnSscZ9MCLLrkKWZUhjRqjj75QjtaKFgD27Xd781IdcwLnI%2FXt0kKI9PAXD1X9Am2NxgsPDKPgcLeyFrLC5aEgcntF%2BYNBjDC2F6vsZM047Vy6G2XIwTeGKxf0%2B9gcuqDzH1Egy4Ke1D1cNxYd1R5i434WhGZx4lzsRMCqODlnIfXfZbdGxIbAcoJf7qC0%2BwLxTAlreeHQWCVAqrpBnUJBVgtzQ4QPWfoL5nlsOgzXjC2IDFKaAx%2B3h2pW8B2e1QBFw%2Bwvq3E2lxYIeV%2F2%2FmbZu82Q%2Byinez%2F5nXPeygulQFZcI4PLfMYJhDiIzkZGn6pMG2wLw69md9wo9fKWVP%2FzyxODtjyakif4%2FcG%2FHvMbTUgqcqa2rYcrRQrHslvxQ3D003OhRSgX3GdZ9YPLX0mNF9OdREu0mRUTCfKALMibSTyvVtNd5XYDDTkh%2FL1BFsxcmR1krplaMjah3Bwj7F6UiN5L6zHd%2FjRDhugTwtpCf9ZRO8dIZ9OWkJSNwhFay9otllZm%2BC25yMpDs1ROhlcocbTYTCu9WzbTaDUIqHJQLgApjrLC5sTfpGSuxghxYFplBUraNTJ%2FNxEVCj3qtWqKlTJ%2BB%2FTXFKicIQ7C4MT8F8Jy7AAye77CcvXwDlHRKWcRD9MugRqgNk3fzkTCgCogPh0a9LdqTy%2BguyG%2BUpZ9NJ8PT2A61dXK6woVp4LZOa5jwEuUwFNo0fL6xj7jIdWRRaTaInMcNSEDpV3rlBh5OQC2z0J9RXNzYp84lvzeeuRHDpwkU4w7bd8IgskwlLTarAY6sQHWmkgn0ukoAcG54CG4Cuo%2FUYT2s3pK7EmpFW8X5KKwQH%2Fr2mY2lGhaHrJjYJMnsmyWrKD7qP9ILfsRhSrw2qjPmepbJlb9MmToQ%2F4ZtbTseaJ6gACYGWwD3pBbjD1HVWlaCZdyQw%2BsbOPM1tEsNT3b82xpJ0wh9d5Z78Jk7wMxD9AHBB4L7h5mz8trFDVtnKDb8JKX3%2BYlfZ1rd%2Fx6rc6Qwj8ZbO3w3vgxAjc%2Bb9b2h9g%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline%3Bfilename%3D%22companies_house_document.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=45417921e951b70055ef44b29c4d7bc6722616869b43f97d7d38adcc6a872569|title=Annual Report 2021|publisher=British Sugar|access-date=18 January 2023}}</ref> | operating_income = {{increase}} £59.8 million (2021)<ref name=results/> | net_income = {{increase}} £35.3 million (2021)<ref name=results/> | num_employees = 1,400 (2021)<ref name=results/> | parent = Associated British Foods | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = {{URL|britishsugar.co.uk}} | dissolved = | footnotes = }} thumb|upright=1.2|Wissington Sugar Factory in Norfolk '''British Sugar plc''' is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods and the sole British middle-man and producer of sugar from sugar beet.

== History == [[File:BritishSugarAlscottCB.JPG|right|thumb|300px|The facility at Allscott, Shropshire, closed in early 2007, and has since been demolished.]] [[File:Bury St Edmunds Rail Station, 26 Sep, 2012.jpg|thumb|300px|right|British Sugar factory at Bury St Edmunds seen behind the town's railway station]]

=== Early history === {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Sugar Industry (Reorganisation) Act 1936{{efn|Section 33(1).}} | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom | long_title = An Act to provide for the establishment of a Sugar Commission; for the amalgamation into a single corporation of companies manufacturing sugar from home-grown beet; for granting financial assistance to that corporation and to the companies aforesaid; and otherwise for the reorganization of the sugar industry. | year = 1936 | citation = 26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8. c. 18 | territorial_extent = {{ubli|England and Wales|Scotland}}{{efn|Section 33(2).}} | royal_assent = 21 May 1936 | commencement = 21 May 1936{{efn|The Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793.}} | repeal_date = 5 July 1956 | amends = | replaces = | amendments = {{ubli|Customs and Excise Act 1952}} | repealing_legislation = Sugar Act 1956 | related_legislation = | status = Repealed | original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5and1Edw8/26/18/contents/enacted | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} The company was formed as the British Sugar Corporation in 1936, when the British Parliament nationalised the entire sugar beet crop processing industry via the {{visible anchor|Sugar Industry (Reorganisation) Act 1936}} (26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8. c. 18). At this time, there were 13 separate companies with 18 factories across the country. In 1972, it began selling its sugar products under the name of Silver Spoon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/tesco-drops-the-suffolk-produced-silver-spoon-sugar-in-favour-of-rival-1-4919328|title=Tesco drops the Suffolk-produced Silver Spoon sugar in favour of rival|date=6 March 2017|publisher=East Anglian Daily Times|access-date=8 April 2019}}</ref>

In 1977, a rights issue decreased the government holding from 36% to 24%. In May 1982, the company name was shortened to British Sugar plc, and later that year it was taken over by Berisford International.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/11/business/british-sugar-stake.html|title=British Sugar stake|date=11 August 1982|work=New York Times|access-date=8 April 2019}}</ref>

After a crash in property values affected Berisford, it was sold to Associated British Foods (ABF) on 2 January 1991.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/garry-weston-9169664.html |title=Obituary: Garry Weston |work=The Independent |location=UK |date= 16 February 2002|access-date=15 May 2010 }}</ref>

In 2004 the company took over independent sugar producers Billingtons, which was founded by Edward Billington and Son, as a tea and coffee trading company, in 1858.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billingtons.co.uk/story/our-heritage/|title=Our heritage|publisher=Billingtons|access-date=26 May 2023}}</ref>

=== Closures === The sugar refinery in Cupar, Fife, closed in 1971 ending the growth and processing of sugar beet in Scotland; in its heyday in the mid-1930s, 1,500 farmers supplied the Cupar factory.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cupar, Prestonhall, Trading Estate {{!}} Canmore|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/312360/cupar-prestonhall-trading-estate|access-date=17 October 2021|website=canmore.org.uk|language=en}}</ref> In 1981, the Ely, Felsted, Nottingham and Selby factories closed after a reduction in the allowed sugar quota. This was followed by the closure of sites at Spalding in 1989, Peterborough and Brigg in 1991, King's Lynn in 1994, Bardney and Ipswich in 2001, Kidderminster in 2002, and Allscott and York in 2007. The site at Allscott, which opened in 1927, near Telford, Shropshire, was closed because it "lacked scale" to be run economically, while the site at York, North Yorkshire (opened 1926), was closed due to the poor crop yields in northern England.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/5145582.stm|title=Two sugar plants set to be closed|work=BBC News|date=4 July 2006|access-date=4 May 2012}}</ref>

Of the 18 factories which were owned by the British Sugar Corporation, only four still process beet: Bury St Edmunds (Suffolk), Cantley (in Norfolk, the second and first successful British sugar factory in 1912), Newark-on-Trent (Nottinghamshire) and Wissington (western Norfolk and the largest in Europe). The Bury site is also a major packaging plant for Silver Spoon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/the-story-of-sugar-in-peterborough-and-british-sugar-1-142092|title=The story of sugar in Peterborough and British Sugar|date=29 October 2009|publisher=Peterborough Today|access-date=8 April 2019|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408152216/https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/the-story-of-sugar-in-peterborough-and-british-sugar-1-142092|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The 12 sites already closed have been sold and decommissioned to various degrees – many large concrete silos (for storing the major product, white granulated sugar) still remain even where the sites have been closed, including those at the Kidderminster factory which was closed in 2002 and sold off in 2006. The concrete silos at the Ipswich site were demolished in 2018, 17 years after the site closed. Allscott has now been completely demolished. Spalding has been replaced by Spalding Power Station.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intergen.com/assets/docs/SP_Environmental-Statement-Further-Information-Document-new.pdf|title=Environmental Statement|publisher=Ramboll|date=14 April 2015|access-date=8 April 2019|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408152609/http://www.intergen.com/assets/docs/SP_Environmental-Statement-Further-Information-Document-new.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> BP and DuPont are working with British Sugar to build a bioethanol plant at BP's Hull site, as described in an announcement made in June 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/analysis/2279996/vivergo-opens-uks-largest-biorefinery-plant-in-hull-as-biofuel-debate-heats-up|title=Vivergo opens UK's largest biorefinery plant in Hull as biofuel debate heats up|date=9 July 2013|access-date=11 August 2015}}</ref>

== Operations == British Sugar is effectively the sole buyer of all of the sugar beet grown in Britain. This output comes from around 2,300 beet growers throughout Britain.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sugar |first1=British |date=1 November 2023 |title=Meet our Board |url=https://www.britishsugar.co.uk/media/news/2023-11-01-202425-sugar-beet-contract-a-competitive-core-price-with-added-potential-for-sharing-sugar-market-upside |work=Latest News |page= |issue= |issn=}}</ref> There is however a proposal to start growing sugar beet in Eastern Scotland again to produce bioethanol.<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 February 2020|title=Sugar beet to return to Scotland after 50 years|url=https://www.farmersguide.co.uk/sugar-beet-to-return-to-scotland-after-50-years/|access-date=17 October 2021|website=Farmers Guide|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sugar beet to return to Scotland after 50 years|url=https://www.farminglife.com/country-and-farming/sugar-beet-return-scotland-after-50-years-1392923|access-date=17 October 2021|website=www.farminglife.com|language=en}}</ref> British Sugar is a supplier of cannabis to GW Pharmaceuticals.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/10/25/british-sugar-to-cultivate-cannabis-plants-in-norfolk-for-gw-pha/|title=British Sugar to cultivate cannabis plants in Norfolk for GW Pharmaceuticals|last=Bradshaw|first=Julia|date=25 October 2016|work=The Telegraph|access-date=8 March 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

== Management == The former managing director, Paul Kenward, is married to the Conservative MP, former Health Secretary and current Shadow Secretary of State for Health Victoria Atkins.<ref>[http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/engagements/57719/mr-p.r.-kenward-and-miss-v.m.-atkins Mr P.R. Kenward and Miss V.M. Atkins - Engagements Announcements] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911085705/http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/engagements/57719/mr-p.r.-kenward-and-miss-v.m.-atkins |date=11 September 2019 }} in ''The Daily Telegraph'' at announcements.telegraph.co.uk</ref> He has since been promoted to the parent company (ABF Sugar) as the CEO there.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 30, 2024 |title=ABF Sugar meet our executive team |url=https://www.abfsugar.com/executive-team |access-date=May 30, 2024 |website=abfsugar.com}}</ref>

== Neonicotinoid == Due to their environmental impact, neonicotinoids were banned for outdoor use in the UK in 2018. Yet, for four years in a row the former UK Government approved so-called 'emergency authorisations' made by British Sugar for the use of the highly damaging neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, on sugar beet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/say-no-neonics|title=No to neonicotinoids|publisher=Wildlife Trusts|access-date=16 March 2026}}</ref>

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|British Sugar}} * {{Official website|www.britishsugar.co.uk}} * [http://www.miac.org.uk/sugar.htm British Sugar at Kidderminster] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070715135853/http://www.derelicte.co.uk/ipswich-sugar-factory Ipswich Sugar Factory] photos taken in 2006 * [http://www.urbanassault.t83.net/#/britishsugarkidderminster/4527158385/ Exploring British Sugar, Kidderminster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623093213/http://www.urbanassault.t83.net/#/britishsugarkidderminster/4527158385/ |date=23 June 2008 }} * [http://consideratetrespassing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/british-sugar-bardney-june-2012.html Exploring British Sugar, Bardney] * {{PM20|FID=co/003579|TEXT=Clippings about|NAME=}}

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Category:Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Category:British companies established in 1936 Category:Food and drink companies established in 1936 Category:Sugar companies Category:Companies based in Peterborough Category:Companies based in Cambridgeshire Category:Associated British Foods Category:1936 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:British royal warrant holders Category:Sugar industry in the United Kingdom Category:Agriculture companies of the United Kingdom