verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message british sugar type subsidiary industry sugar beet processing founded 1936 headquarters peterborough england united kingdom number of locations 5 area served united kingdom products sugar parent associated british foods website britishsugar.co.uk the facility at allscott shropshire closed in early 2007 . british sugar factory at bury saint edmunds at the backdrop of the town s railway station . british sugar plc is a subsidiary of associated british foods and the sole british producer of sugar from sugar beet . british sugar processes all sugar beet grown in the united kingdom and produces about half of the united kingdom s quota of sugar with the remainder covered by tate & lyle and imports . british sugar and the growers fix a contract called the inter professional agreement determining price paid for beet grown and the allocation of growers quotas . the national farmers union nfu is the negotiator for the growers . contents 1 history 2 change 2.1 closure 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit the british sugar corporation was a company that was formed in 1936 when the british parliament nationalised the entire sugar beet crop processing industry under the banner of british sugar corporation . at this time there were 13 separate companies with 18 factories across the country . in 1972 it began selling its sugar products under the name of silver spoon . in 1977 a rights issue decreased the government holding from 36 % to 24 % . it was taken over by berisford international in 1982 and in may of that year the company name was shortened to british sugar plc. it was sold on 2 january 1991 to associated british foods abf after a crash in property values affected berisford . abf had attempted to purchase in the late 1980s but the stockmarket downturn had stopped their move . change edit due to the need for continued efficiency in the face of changes to the european sugar regime there has been significant reorganisation within the company . the most noticeable is that the number of factories has been reduced over the years . closures at some sites have resulted in the expansion of active plant processing periods campaigns at others . one of the cost effective measures is to increase the front end processing of sugar beet up to the thick juice stage a syrup . this is stored in tanks and processed out of season spreading the load on the crystallisation stages which do not have to be uprated . closure edit in 1981 the ely felsted nottingham and selby factories closed after a reduction in the allowed sugar quota . this was followed by the closure of a site at spalding in 1989 peterborough and brigg in 1991 king s lynn in 1994 bardney and ipswich in 2001 kidderminster in 2002 and allscott and york in 2007 . the site at allscott which opened in 1927 near telford shropshire was closed because it lacked scale to be run economically while the site at york north yorkshire opened 1926 was closed due to the poor crop yields in northern england . 1 of the 18 factories which were owned by the british sugar corporation only four still process beet bury st edmunds suffolk cantley in norfolk the second and first successful british sugar factory in 1912 newark on trent nottinghamshire and wissington western norfolk and the largest in europe . the bury site is also a major packaging plant for silver spoon . the 12 sites already closed have been sold and decommissioned to various degrees many large concrete silos for storing the major product white granulated sugar still remain even where the sites have been closed including those at the kidderminster factory which was closed in 2002 and was sold off in 2006 and ipswich . allscott has now been completely demolished . spalding has been replaced by spalding power station . bp and dupont are working with british sugar to build a bioethanol plant at bp s hull site per an announcement made on june 2007 . 2 see also edit bioethanol references edit two sugar plants set to be closed . bbc news . 4 july 2006 . retrieved 4 may 2012 . vivergo opens uk s largest biorefinery plant in hull as biofuel debate heats up . 9 july 2013 . retrieved 11 august 2015 . external links edit british sugar british sugar at kidderminster ipswich sugar factory photos taken in 2006 exploring british sugar kidderminster exploring british sugar bardney retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title british sugar & oldid 744115595 categories food manufacturers of the united kingdombritish companies established in 1936food and drink companies established in 1936sugar companiescompanies based in peterboroughcompanies based in cambridgeshireassociated british foods1936 establishments in the united kingdombritish royal warrant holdershidden categories articles needing additional references from 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