Carreras Tobacco Company - Baron Family Sells Up

Baron Family Sells Up

By now Alfred Dunhill Ltd, the tobacconists which had been established in 1907 at No 30 Duke Street SW1, was a subsidiary of the Carreras Group. Carreras also had an associate in Jamaica and an interest in P J Carroll, Ireland’s largest cigarette manufacturer. The Dutch cigar company, Schimmelpenninck, was also part of the Group.

The Baron family, which had held a controlling interest in Carreras since the early 1900s, decided to sell their shares in 1958 but, before doing so, were responsible for two major projects which became decisive in the progress of the Company.

Firstly it was decided to transfer the manufacturing plant to the new town of Basildon in Essex as the Arcadia Works in Mornington Crescent had become uneconomic and mass production techniques were being carried out on different floor levels.

Secondly, with the beginning of the swing towards filtered cigarette smoking, Carreras launched a brand which came to have national appeal - Guards.