A HISTORY OF JOHN PLAYER & SONS AND ITS HORIZON FACTORY

Introduction

On November 1st 1972, the cigarette and tobacco manufacturer John Player & Sons opened its new factory. Named Horizon and situated on an industrial estate in the Lenton area of Nottingham, the building and the machinery it contained cost a combined £15 million. This was a substantial investment and the factory’s scale reflected Player’s then position as one of the largest tobacco manufacturers in Britain.

Player’s marked the opening of Horizon in fittingly extravagant fashion, with the company staging a lavish opening ceremony. One of Horizon’s production rooms was decorated especially for the occasion, functioning as a temporary dining hall. As guests lunched, the English Sinfonia Orchestra conducted by Neville Dilkes performed the ‘Horizon Overture’, a piece which Player’s  had commissioned to mark the opening and which was composed by Joseph Horowitz.

Former chairman and managing director of Player’s, John Anstey, officially opened the factory, describing it as ‘a distinguished building of brilliant design, something splendid in new industrial architecture – simple, yet embodying the very latest in engineering and production technology’.  The ceremony witnessed the unveiling of a 12-foot bronze and granite sculpture. This was designed by the Austrian artist Ernst Eisenmayer and built by five of Player’s senior engineering apprentices.

Among the 300 invited guests were the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Alderman Charles Butler, and his wife. As a gift from the company, they received a silver cigarette box during the ceremony. Their participation had a certain symbolism to it; both the Lord Mayor and his wife had previously worked at Player’s, and their employment history underlined the impact Player’s had had as an employer on the city of Nottingham. Thousands had worked or were working for the company, and many in the city were eager to see the company do well in its new factory.

The launch of Horizon was a significant milestone in the history of John Player & Sons. The new factory represented a central part of the company’s modernising efforts. It was a large, flexible working space which could help provide the production options needed if Player’s were to remain leaders of industry. Horizon was a physical move but also a symbolic move away from Player’s older Radford factory complex and the Victorian, paternalistic values on which the company had been founded.