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United Dairies is a former United Kingdom-based 
During
Illustration of United Dairies horse-drawn milk floatIllustration of 1950s United Dairies electric milk float
Dairy products companies of the United Kingdom Defunct food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Food and drink companies disestablished in 1959 1915 establishments in England Food and drink companies established in 1915 British companies established in 1915 1959 disestablishments in England {{UK-company-stub
creamery
A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream re ...
, milk bottling and distribution company. The company was formed in 1915 and merged to form Unigate in 1959.
During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, there were dire shortages of men, horses and vehicles commandeered for the war effort, hampering any business which was reliant on the timely distribution of its products, such as a dairy company. United Dairies was formed in 1915 when Wiltshire United Dairies (established in Melksham
Melksham () is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, the Melksham built-up area had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest settlement aft ...
in 1897), Metropolitan and Great Western Dairies, and the Dairy Supply Company merged in an attempt to pool their resources and keep their companies operating until the end of the war. At first a wholesale business, in 1917 a large number of London retailers joined the company. The company had its headquarters at Trowbridge, Wiltshire.
So successful was the merger under chairman Sir Reginald Butler, that the company began to expand, buying other dairies and creameries across the United Kingdom. After the war ended, it bought businesses in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, Cheshire, Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, Sherbourne and Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
.
In the late 1920s, United Dairies helped pioneer the sale of pasteurized milk
Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life.
T ...
in Britain. One of its largest factories, next to the River Avon at Melksham on the site of a former dye works, could handle up to 51,000 gallons of liquid milk per day in 1935; much of this was processed into cream or condensed milk, often for export. 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
the company expanded into Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
through acquisition.
The company was a large user of milk trains, and in agreement with the railway companies supplied its own distinctively coloured milk containers to top the railway companies' chassis. While rival Express Dairies
Express Dairies is a former brand of Dairy Crest, that specialised almost entirely in home deliveries of milk, and other dairy products.
History
The company was founded by George Barham in 1864 as the 'Express County Milk Supply Company,' so na ...
preferred the Great Western Railway, United Dairies preferred the Southern Railway.
By the early 1950s, United Dairies had become the UK's largest dairy products company. However, the company had become inefficient, and needed to improve its operations. After the 1958 retirement of its long-time rival Cow & Gate's chairman, Bramwell Gates, its rival's new chairman Ernest Augustus Taylor began to negotiate a merger between the two companies. The union was completed in 1959, with the new listed company Unigate emerging.
The dairying side of Unigate's business was sold in 2000 to Dairy Crest
Saputo Dairy UK Limited is a holding company for Dairy Crest Limited, a British dairy products company. It was created in 2019 when the Canadian company Saputo Inc bought Dairy Crest. Dairy Crest itself was created in 1981 as a spin-off of the ...
.
References
Further reading
*External links
Illustration of United Dairies horse-drawn milk float
Dairy products companies of the United Kingdom Defunct food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Food and drink companies disestablished in 1959 1915 establishments in England Food and drink companies established in 1915 British companies established in 1915 1959 disestablishments in England {{UK-company-stub