Typhoo: Difference between revisions

▲The name Typhoo comes from the Chinese word for "doctor" ([[traditional Chinese]]: 大夫, [[hanyu pinyin]]: ''dàifū'').<ref name="History of TT"/>

▲In 1968, Typhoo merged with [[Schweppes]]. The following year this company in turn merged with [[Cadbury]] to form Cadbury Schweppes.<ref name="History of TT2" /> In 1986, in an effort to focus on their core brands, Cadbury Schweppes sold Typhoo, along with [[Kenco]] coffee and [[Jeyes Fluid]].<ref name="History of CS" /> Typhoo was subject to management buy out forming a new company, [[Premier Brands]], which acquired, in rapid succession, Melrose's, the [[Glengettie]] Tea Company, Ridgways (founded by [[Thomas Ridgway]]), and the Jersey Trading Corporation. In 1990, the company was itself acquired by [[Premier Foods]], then trading as Hillsdown Holdings.<ref name="History of PF" />

▲Record high material costs and adverse currency movements saw Typhoo Tea's profits plummet to a £20m loss in the year ending 31 March 2018. The tea maker recognised the year as one of the most challenging trading periods for the business in recent history.

▲Early in 2020, Typhoo Tea proposed cutting about a quarter of posts at its headquarters to safeguard the future of the company. The restructuring, which is subject to the outcome of a consultation, would see 55 full-time and 21 temporary jobs closed at the firm's factory in Moreton, Wirral, a spokesman said. <ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-02-04|title=Typhoo Tea plans job cuts at Wirral factory 'to safeguard future'|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-51377480|access-date=2020-07-04}}</ref> He said the plan came against "the backdrop of an increasingly challenging trading environment".

▲In 2020 Typhoo Tea reported mounting losses in a “watershed” year for the business, raising doubts about the brand’s ability to continue trading. They reported pre-tax losses of £29.9m for the 12 months to March 2019, up from £20m the prior year. The accounts warned that an inability to refinance or extend its financing agreements “represents a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. Furthermore, the accounts stated there remained a “high level of uncertainty” as to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, despite reporting an upward trend in supermarket sales under lockdown. Typhoo blamed its poor performance on the decision to continue to pursue an “aggressive” sales growth strategy focused on boosting its own-label business.