verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message samworth brothers type ltd industry food founded 1896 headquarters melton mowbray leicestershire & callington cornwall united kingdom key people life president sir david samworth cbe dl group holdings board nicholas linney chair alex knight group chief executive mark samworth director william kendall non executive director hannu ry pp nen non executive director jonathan warburton non executive director group executive board richard armitage group finance director anita barker director paul davey director ian fletcher director mary ann kilby director richard marris director 1 products meat products melton mowbray pork pies sandwiches deserts ready meals owner private various number of employees 2 000 subsidiaries ginsters walker & son dickinson & morris soreen and sci mx nutrition website www.samworthbrothers.co.uk samworth brothers head office fronts two food manufacturing plants on the a607 dickinson and morris pie shop melton mowbray samworth brothers are a leicestershire based food manufacturer the owner of cornish pasty maker ginsters and the largest maker of certified melton mowbray pork pies . it is listed at number four in the times top track 250 . contents 1 history 2 present 3 controversy 3.1 union recognition 3.2 national living wage debate 4 awards 5 references 6 external links history edit george samworth was born in 1868 and after joining a group of birmingham based pig buyers started his own pig dealing business in 1896 . after his retirement in 1930 his sons frank and george took over the business . the business collapsed in the period of meat rationing of world war ii but in 1950 frank bought nottingham based butchery and pie makers tn parr . in 1969 the company bought local nottinghamshire rival pork farms from w. garfield weston and jai law which doubled the size of the business overnight . frank decided to retire leaving the business to his sons with david as chairman while frank jr. and john samworth were senior directors . in 1971 the group was floated on the london stock exchange as pork farms plc and in 1972 bought rival holland s pies . in 1974 pork farms and northern foods created joint venture company porkdown ltd to supply meat products to french foods group danone . but immediately after production started danone undertook a group wide review and on deciding to concentrate on their milk products line closed down the contract . the resultant losses closed porkdown and in 1978 lead to the agreed sale of pork farms to northern foods after the samworth family agreed sale of their shares to the group . separately in 1977 john samworth had left the business after his purchase of the ginsters cornish pasties business from the ginsters family under his holding company goran foods ltd. in 1985 the name of the goran foods was changed to samworth brothers to reflect the involvement of john and david samworth . in 1986 samworth brothers purchased cobden street leicester based walker & son ltd. having sold their crisps business walkers in 1971 to us based standard brands their pie making business was now the largest distributor of melton mowbray pork pies . this was added to in 1992 after the purchase of the fire destroyed melton mowbray based pie maker dickinson & morris which was refurbished in a traditional style . present edit samworth brothers today are both a multi line food manufacturer covering meat products a range of own brand sausage products made by walkers midshire sandwiches after tesco approached the business in 1993 they opened the walkers charnwood owned bradgate bakery to produce own label sandwiches for a variety of supermarkets . this was supplemented in 1994 by the establishment of the ginsters sandwich range . further added to in 1998 with the opening of the melton foods bakery and in 2006 with the opening of the sandwich centre to provide van based distribution into central london ready meals produced by tamar foods kettleby foods and brooksby foods desserts kensey foods in launceston and blueberry foods produce ambient and chilled desserts saladworks conceived as a filling production facility it now also produces own brand ready meals after john retired in 2002 and david in 2005 the business is now chaired by non family member nick linney . controversy edit union recognition edit in 2016 samworth brothers sacked a worker for seeking union recognition . 2 3 in 2014 group of workers lost their jobs after they refused to stay more than 12 hours during a shift shift and went home . national living wage debate edit since the introduction of a national living wage in april 2016 samworth brothers have come under widespread criticism for removing premium pay rates in order to pay the new minimum wage . as joan ryan labour party mp for enfield north stated in parliament bradgate bakery is part of the group samworth brothers that owns famous brands that we all enjoy such as ginsters pies and soreen loaf but the pay that it is offering staff is a lot less tasty than its food . bradgate has written to all its leicestershire staff detailing changes to their wages . most shop floor employees at bradgate were earning just over 6.70 an hour before 1 april so the introduction of the national living wage should have made quite a difference for them but bradgate like b & q has found an opportunity to save money . bradgate has changed staff terms and conditions to phase out double pay for sundays by 2019 . that means that while employees on the national minimum wage earned 13.78 per hour on a sunday last month by 2019 they will earn just 9 per hour . that is the national living wage according to bradgate bakery . extra pay for night shifts saturdays and overtime are also being scaled back . in sum bradgate workers are being sold a lie they are told that their pay is increasing but what the government are giving with one hand bradgate is taking with another . according to one very worried worker who approached my hon. friend the member for mitcham and morden these cuts will affect the whole range of shifts that run in the factories . that means that by 2018 a production operative on night shift will be paid 2 778 less a year while a night shift team leader will be paid 344 less . 4 despite this samworth brothers director mark samworth was invited to one of the conservative party s leaders group meals between january and march according to documents released by the party and analysed by the morning star . these cash for access meals require a minimum payment of 50 000 to the conservative party . 5 awards edit bsa award david samworth 2007 sandwich manufacturer of the year 1995 1996 joint with toft foods ; 1998 joint with gibsons ; 1999 2007 references edit our leadership . samworth brothers . retrieved 29 may 2016 . http www.bfawu.org bfawu activist sacked for seeking union recognition at samworth brothers https www.facebook.com reinstate kumaran bose 506096599591947 national living wage debate 18 april 2016 . volume 608 james luke 27 may 2016 . tories wine and dine boss who cut staff pay . morning star . people s press printing society . p. 2 . retrieved 29 may 2016 . external links edit official website dickinson & morris v t e british pies sweet apple pie bakewell tart banoffee pie bedfordshire clanger black bun custard tart manchester tart mince pie rhubarb pie treacle tart savoury bacon and egg pie bedfordshire clanger bridie butter pie chicken and mushroom pie corned beef pie cornish pasty cottage pie cumberland pie curry pie devizes pie fish pie game pie homity pie killie pie meat and potato pie melton mowbray pork pie pork pie scotch pie shepherd s pie squab pie stargazy pie steak pie steak and kidney pie steak and oyster pie woolton pie manufacturers clark s pies dickinson & morris fray bentos ginsters higgidy holland s pies mr kipling peter s poole s pork farms pukka pies shire foods square pie wall s wrights pies retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title samworth brothers & oldid 737555889 categories british pie brandscompanies based in leicestershirecompanies established in 1896companies formerly listed on the london stock exchangeprivately held companies of the united kingdommeat processing in the united kingdomfamily businesses of the united kingdomhidden categories articles needing additional references from august 2015all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage 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