RHM plc, formerly Rank Hovis McDougall, was a United Kingdom

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

business. The company owned numerous brands, particularly for

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

, where its core business started, and for consumer food products. It was listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

and was once a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest marke ...

but was acquired by

Premier Foods Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The group owns many well-known brands, including Mr Kipling, Ambrosia, Bird's Custard, Angel Delight, Homepride cooking sauces, Lyons, Sharwood's, Loy ...

in March 2007.

History

Early years

The company was founded by

Joseph Rank Joseph Rank (28 March 1854 – 13 November 1943) was the founder of Joseph Rank Limited, once one of Britain's largest Flour milling and bakery companies. He built his company into a leader in all aspects of the industry including the operatio ...

in 1875 as

milling business when he rented a small

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

. He initially lost money and therefore took a co-tenancy at West's Holderness Corn Mill. In 1885 he built a mechanically-driven flour mill in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

in order to beat competition from abroad. He used steel rollers instead of

mill stone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

s thereby producing six sacks of flour an hour instead of one and a half. In 1888 he built another steel-roller plant in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, and soon after, built a more modern plant, producing 20 sacks of flour an hour. As he strove for greater productivity he installed equipment that produced 30 sacks of flour an hour, and then 40 sacks an hour. He also set up agencies to distribute his flour in parts of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

where it previously had not been sold. In May 1899 the business was incorporated as a private company under the name ''Joseph Rank Limited''. In 1902, Joseph Rank made his first trip to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

to understand and beat his American competitors. Soon after his trip abroad, the company built mills in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. In 1912, a mill in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

was built to supply the needs of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and northwestern

. Rank then moved the corporate headquarters of the Company from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the company employed 3,000 workers, many of them women working while their husbands were away at war. In 1935 Joseph Rank was awarded the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Hull, in part because of a trust fund he had set up in Hull to help "poor persons of good character." During the 1920s, Rank expanded into Scotland and Ireland. He also formed the British Isles Transport Company Limited to facilitate transport of his products around the country. The Company was first listed on the

in 1933. In 1943 James Rank became Chairman following his father's death. In 1945 James Rank, the new chairman, assisted by Cecil Loombe, who had become a director, set about rebuilding mills destroyed by bombing, which included the new Baltic Flour Mill at

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

, opened in 1950. In 1952, James Rank was succeeded by his brother J. Arthur Rank as Chairman. Arthur explored ways of improving quality control in food production founding RHM Technology and its research centre at

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

Formation of RHM

In 1962 the Company acquired the Hovis-McDougall Company, founded in 1957 after the merger of Hovis Bread Flour Company, founded in 1898, and McDougall Brothers, founded in 1864 by Alexander, Isaac, Arthur,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and James Thomas, with its famous ''

Hovis Hovis Ltd is a British company that produces flour and bread. The brand originated in Stoke-on-Trent and was first mass-produced in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in 1886. It became part of Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1962 after a succession of merge ...

'' brand of bread and became ''Rank Hovis McDougall Limited''. In 1968 RHM went on to buy the

Cerebos Cerebos is a brand of salt and, more recently, of other flavourings and nutritional supplements. Ownership of Cerebos brand is divided between Kraft Heinz in Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, Premier Foods in UK, K+S in Western Europe, an ...

food group, which brought with it a number of popular food brands as well as interests in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, the

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. In 1969 Arthur's nephew, Joseph Rank, took over the Chairmanship of the Company. Joseph Rank encouraged research work in

crustacea Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group c ...

farming, cereal and seed production, and wheat hybrids. He also pioneered

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

production from

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...

. In 1984 the Company established a joint venture with ICI known as ''Marlow Foods''. It was Marlow Foods that created the

meat substitute A meat alternative or meat substitute (also called plant-based meat or fake meat, sometimes pejoratively) is a food product made from vegetarian or vegan ingredients, eaten as a replacement for meat. Meat alternatives typically approximate qua ...

product

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as b ...

. In 1981 Sir Peter Reynolds took over as Chairman from Joseph Rank. The company made a number of important acquisitions during the 1980s in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

including the purchase in 1987 of Avana Group, which was renamed Avana Bakeries Limited. In 1992 the Company was purchased by Tomkins plc who then sold it on to

Doughty Hanson & Co Doughty Hanson & Co is a British private equity fund manager focused on leveraged buyout and recapitalization transactions primarily of upper middle-market companies in Europe. The firm also invests opportunistically in European real estate and ...

in 2000. The Company remained in private equity ownership and sold a number of non-core business, including bakery retail chain

Three Cooks Cooks the Bakery is a specialist retail bakery chain of hot food, sandwiches and coffee, based in Solihull, in the West Midlands, England. The company went into administration on 21 November 2011. The trading rights to Three Cooks and Cooks th ...

. In July 2005 it was relisted on the

. In March 2007, RHM was acquired by

for £1.2bn. Premier made a loss in 2012 and cut production.

Operations

Prior to takeover, the group was grouped into three divisions: Bread Bakeries, Culinary Brands and Cakes & Customer Partnerships. Premier Foods is in the process of integrating Culinary Brands, Cakes and Customer Partnerships into its core business unit, although Bread Bakeries (including Rank Hovis milling) are to remain as a stand-alone business unit for the time being, because of the different supply chain demands such as high volume and the short shelf life of bread.

List of brands

* Atora shredded suet *

Bisto Bisto is a popular and well-known brand of gravy and other food products in the United Kingdom and Ireland, currently owned by Premier Foods. History The first Bisto product, in 1908, was a meat-flavoured gravy powder which rapidly became a best ...

gravy *

Be-Ro Be-Ro is a food manufacturing business, formerly based in Newcastle upon Tyne. History The Company was founded by Thomas Bell as a grocery and tea company in Longhorsley north of Newcastle in 1875. Bell had experimented with rising agents on fl ...

flour *

Cadbury's Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after M ...

cakes (manufactured under licence from

Cadbury plc Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

) *

salt *

Frank Cooper's Frank Cooper's is a UK brand of marmalades and jams owned by Hain Daniels. Frank Cooper's is known primarily for its "Oxford" Marmalade and holds a Royal Warrant. History Oxford High Street Francis Thomas Cooper (1811–1862) was originally ...

jams *

bread and flour * Kake Brand Cooking Chocolate * McDougalls flour and cake mixes *

Mother's Pride Mother's Pride is a brand name for a variety of breads produced by British Bakeries, a division of Premier Foods. The company also bakes Nimble (reduced calorie) and Hovis branded loaves as well as supermarket 'own brand' ranges. British Bake ...

bread *

Mr Kipling Mr Kipling is a brand of cakes, pies and baked goods made in Carlton, South Yorkshire and Stoke-on-Trent, and marketed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and North America. It was introduced in May 1967 (at a time when cakes were more of ...

cakes *

Paxo Paxo is a brand of stuffing in the United Kingdom, currently owned by Premier Foods. Paxo was devised in 1901 by John Crampton, a butcher from Eccles near Manchester, who wanted to have something extra to sell to his customers shopping for their ...

stuffing *

Robertson's Robertson's is a British brand of marmalades and fruit preserves that was founded by James Robertson in 1864. The firm was run as a partnership until 1903, when it was incorporated as a limited company - James Robertson & Sons, Preserve Manufactu ...

jams *

Rombouts Rombouts is a surname of Flemish-Dutch origin, meaning "son of Rombout". People with this name include * Adriaen Rombouts (c. 1640 – in or after 1670), Flemish genre painter active in Brussels * Cataryna Rombouts Brett (1687–1764), New York ...

coffee *

Saxa Saxa may refer to: *Saxa (food product), a brand of salt and pepper *Saxa (musician) Saxa may refer to: *Saxa (food product) Saxa is a brand of herbs, spices, salt and pepper in the United Kingdom and Australia. Formerly a brand of Rank Hovis M ...

salt *

Sharwood's Sharwood's is a British food company, which specialises in Asian food, established in 1889 and acquired by RHM in 1963, which was then merged into Premier Foods in March 2007. Company products The company produces Indian, Chinese and South Ea ...

Indian, Chinese and SE Asian sauces

The Rank name

A common misconception is that the "Rank" in the name signifies an acquired business of the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

. This is understandable as Rank themselves were at one point a highly diversified conglomerate, and were apt to rename acquired or

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

business by prefixing them with the name "Rank", ''e.g.''

Rank Xerox Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...

. There is a link, but the "Rank" reference is to

, father of

Lord Rank Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank (22 December 1888 – 29 March 1972) was a British industrialist who was head and founder of the Rank Organisation. Family business Rank was born on 22 or 23 December 1888 at Kingston upon Hull in England int ...

, who merely inherited the business upon his father's death. It always remained a separately run enterprise.

References

External links

*Burnett, R.G. (2004
''Through the Mill, The life of Joseph Rank'' 150th Anniversary Edition
Epworth Press. {{Authority control RHM Bakeries of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1875 Companies based in Buckinghamshire Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange 2007 mergers and acquisitions