Company Overview and Global Presence
- Imperial Brands plc is a British multinational tobacco company.
- It is headquartered in London and Bristol, England.
- The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
- Imperial Brands is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company.
- It is also the largest producer of fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers.
- Imperial Brands sold 220.9 billion stick equivalents globally in 2022.
- The company has 30 factories worldwide.
- Its products are sold in around 120 countries.
- Some of its well-known brands include Davidoff, West, Golden Virginia, Drum, and Rizla.
- Imperial Brands has expanded its product range to include alternative nicotine products such as blu vape, Pulze, iD heated tobacco system, Zone X, and Skruf nicotine pouches.
History
- The Imperial Tobacco Company was created in 1901 through the amalgamation of 13 British tobacco and cigarette companies.
- The company's first chairman was William Henry Wills.
- In 1902, Imperial Tobacco and the American Tobacco Company formed a joint venture called British-American Tobacco Company Ltd.
- Imperial Tobacco established its own leaf-buying organization in the United States.
- In 1973, the company changed its name to Imperial Group and formed a subsidiary named Imperial Tobacco Limited.
- In 2003, Imperial Brands acquired Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH, adding brands like Davidoff and West to its portfolio.
- In 2007, the company entered the US tobacco market with the acquisition of Commonwealth Brands Inc.
- In 2008, Imperial Brands acquired Altadis, which included brands like Fortuna and Gauloises Blondes.
- The company faced factory closures, including the closure of the Horizon factory in Nottingham in 2014.
- In 2016, Imperial Brands changed its name to distance itself from tobacco.
Recent Developments
- In 2018, Imperial Brands Ventures took a stake in Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies to develop cannabis-based medicines.
- In November 2019, Thérèse Esperdy became the company's new chairman.
- In July 2020, Stefan Bomhard became the chief executive of Imperial Brands.
- The company continues to expand its product offerings and diversify its business.
- Imperial Brands opened a new global headquarters in Bristol in 2013.
Archives and Operations
- W. D. & H. O. Wills Limited and John Player & Sons were involved in setting up Imperial Tobacco.
- Bristol Archives holds extensive records of W D & H O Wills and Imperial Tobacco.
- Nottinghamshire Archives hold the John Player and Sons collections.
- The archives at Liverpool Central Library hold records of the Ogden Branch.
- The Nottingham factory and the French factory in Nantes closed in 2016.
- Production was moved to Eastern Europe.
Controversies and Notes
- In May 2022, The Times reported that the company had lobbied politicians in Scotland.
- Ivan McKee, the trade minister, met with executives from Imperial Brands twice in 2018.
- Imperial Tobacco owns various products in Australia, including Camel, More, and Mevius.
- Lambert & Butler is known as L&B or Great & British in some countries.
- Imperial Tobacco is associated with British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco.
- Fine-cut tobacco and rolling paper are also part of their product range.
- Snus tobacco is another product offered by Imperial Tobacco.
Imperial Brands Data Sources
| Reference | URL |
|---|---|
| Glossary | https://www.alternix.com/blogs/glossary-of-terms/imperial-brands |
| Wikipedia | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Brands |
| Wikidata | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1471161 |
| Knowledge Graph | https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/03p2d74 |
