History
The company was founded in 1875 by Robert Barr in the town of Falkirk. In 1887 his son, Robert Fulton Barr, set up a division of the original company in Glasgow, which had a much larger population. Then in 1892 the Glasgow branch passed to Andrew Grieg Barr, a brother of the founder of that branch. Irn-Bru was first launched in 1901. The Falkirk and Glasgow divisions merged in 1959. The Company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1965.
In 1972, the Tizer brand was purchased. The year 1980 saw the introduction of Low Calorie Irn-Bru: this changed its name in 1991 to Diet Irn-Bru, and then in 2010 to Irn-Bru sugar free. In 2001 the company acquired Findlays Mineral Water which is sourced in the Lammermuir Hills.
In 2002 Roger White joined A. G. Barr as managing director and in 2004 became Barr's first ever non-family chief executive.
The Company acquired Forfar based Strathmore Mineral Water in May 2006. The Irn-Bru 32 energy drink variant was launched in 2006. In 2008 the company purchased the Taut sports drink range.
On 14 November 2012 the Company agreed to merge with Britvic, which produces drinks like J2O, Tango and Robinsons, as well as holding the authority to produce Pepsi for the UK market, to create one of Europe's largest soft drinks companies.
Read more about this topic: A.G. Barr
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“In front of these sinister facts, the first lesson of history is the good of evil. Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes a better.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I think that Richard Nixon will go down in history as a true folk hero, who struck a vital blow to the whole diseased concept of the revered image and gave the American virtue of irreverence and skepticism back to the people.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)
“The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)