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The Brooke Bond factory is a tea production factory located in Trafford Park, Manchester.

History and Development
The factory started out as a warehouse, leased out by Brooke Bond in the First World War. The tea packing process had always been concentrated in London, and they hoped that by dispersing the process they would be able to keep up with the increasing demand. On opening, the factory was staffed by 40 married women.

Despite the war, Brooke Bond's market strength was secured and sales continued to grow, soon rendering the Trafford Park warehouse insufficient.

Plans were drawn up for a new blending and packaging factory in the early 1920s, with production beginning in 1923 and 1924. The factory was designed by Mr. G. T. Walker, who was then a Chief Factory Engineer and was based on a vertical line design to facilitate an efficient workflow from cutting and blending through to packing and shipment for distribution. When it opened, it was considered the most modern tea factory in the world. In 1925 to 1926, the first automatic tea packers were installed at the factory.

Brooke Bond launched PG Tips in 1930, which would soon grow to become a staple of the brand.

In 1959, the factory was extended and included both a new building and a small railway station. The railway station incorporated a conveyor belt on the platform, which carried deliveries of tea to the receiving office for checking and weighing.

1960s
In 1961, the factory was experiencing labour shortages and decided to offer a 4 and a half day week to promote recruitment amongst teenage girls and married women, also adding evening classes in hair and beauty as an incentive.

In 1962, work began on a second warehouse extension, with the work being done by the Russell Building and Contracting Company of Ardwick, Manchester, who also built the first phase of the extension. The extension was completed in January 1963 and added an extra 43,000 square feet of warehouse capacity.

Prince Phillip visited the Trafford Park factory in 1965 and was the first official royal visit to a Brooke Bond factory.

In 1966, a prototype tea chest opener was revealed. It was designed through a joint project involving Trafford Park staff, and the prototype was trialled at the Trafford Park factory.

1970s
In 1971, new equipment was installed in the factory, including a 12,000lb blending drum and a new de-lidding system for tea chests. Plans were also in place for the rearrangement of the Despatch Area and the provision of a new recreation room.

A prototype high-speed tea bag machine came into operation in 1973, as a way to meet the increasing demand for PG Tips.

In 1977, the factory was developed to include a new packed stock warehouse, landscaping in front of the new premises, and the construction of a new gatehouse. Additionally, new teabag machines and tension wrappers were installed. The Trafford Park factory also increased its engineering facilities to keep the new high-speed teabag machines well maintained.

1980s
In 1981, the factory undertook and completed a project to raise a 550 square metre section of the roof by 5.6 metres in order to house a new coffee blending unit.

In 1984, a new blending silo was installed.

A three-shift working pattern was introduced for production in 1989. It was the first Brooke Bond Foods plant to implement this system.

1990s
In 1990, construction began on a £15 million development project, with facilities including computerisation of various processes, reorganisation of processes for efficient workflows, and the refurbishment of all warehouses. As part of this project, 7 new blending silos were installed in 1991.

From 1991 to 1993, accidents at the Trafford Park factory were reduced by almost half following the introduction of a new European Community directive.

In 1993, the factory announced a 92% reduction in time taken to switch between the production of 200 grams of coffee and 100 grams. In the same year, a new packing hall was opened, including state of the art non-slip flooring, dust extractors, and air humidifiers.

Brooke Bond celebrated 125 years in Manchester in 1994, and the Trafford Park factory held a family fun day and factory tours for employees and their families. In the same year, the factory won an award from the Royal Society for the prevention of accidents, in recognition of the site's low accident rate.

Also in 1994, Trafford Park began to blend and pack tea for the Canadian retail market, packing Salada brand tea.

In 1995, all employees were moved to monthly salaries, and overtime was abolished and replaced with production targets. Along with this, front line management structure was reorganised along all Business Group lines operating across Van den Bergh Foods.

Production machinery was introduced in 1996 to produce the new PG Tips pyramid teabags. In the same year, a smoking health initiative was launched by the Trafford Park Smoking Party Committee, with a smoking information pack and the reduction of smoking areas on-site to a single room in the restaurant.

New safety standards were introduced to the factory in 1997.

In 1998, the Trafford Park factory became the first Van den Bergh Foods factory to attain ISO 14000 for its environmental management system. The factory also began regularly delivering specially blended teas to the Unilever tea factory at Gemenos, near Marseilles, France.

2000s
In 2001, there was a £1.5 million investment into a new line to bulk package PG Tips and Scottish Blend pyramid tea bags into 6 different pack sizes for out-of-home markets.

In 2002, 15 adult apprenticeships were offered to employees at the factory to train towards a Mechanical Maintenence NVQ Level 3 as part of a drive to reduce production downtime due to breakdowns. Two projects were also launched to help the company to become a world-class supply chain: one based around recovery rates from shreddings, and the other aimed at achieving yearly improvements in safety.

In 2003, the staff area was refurbished to include an internet cafe to help employees develop computer skills, and a new mural was installed on the history of the company's tea production.

A new PG Tips production line went into operation in 2010, to ensure that the production of pyramid bags was faster and had an improved product quality.

Present Day
The factory is still fully operational on the same site, though greatly modernised and extended. It now produced PG Tips, Scottish Blend, and Lyons tea.