John Player & Sons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Player & Sons was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer, based in Nottingham, England. It is today part of the Imperial Tobacco Group.
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[edit] History
John Player founded his tobacco company in the mid-19th Century in Nottingham. It was later expanded into a thriving cigarette manufactory (based at the Castle Tobacco Factories in Radford, Nottingham - just west of the city centre) and run by his sons, John Dane Player and William Goodacre Player.
In 1901, in response to competitive threats from the USA, the Player's business was merged in to the Imperial Tobacco Group (headquartered in Bristol and including other companies such as WD & HO Wills). However, Players cigarettes retained their own identity (in brands such as 'Navy Cut', 'No.6', 'John Player Special' and 'Gold Leaf') with their distinctive logo of a smoking sailor in a 'Navy Cut' cap.
A new factory (the 'Horizon' factory) was opened in the early 1970s on Nottingham's industrial outskirts, with better road access and more effective floor space. The old factories in Radford (especially the cavernous 'No.1 Factory') were gradually run down and the final demolition of the 'No.3 Factory', with its distinctive clock and rooftop 'John Player & Sons' sign, came in the late 1980s.
[edit] Sponsorship
John Player's brands are also well known among motor racing fans, following their long association with the Lotus Formula One team, and Norton motorcycle racing team. John Player's sponsorship of Team Lotus began with the Lotus 49 in Gold Leaf colours at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, continued with the Lotus 72, which changed to the black and gold John Player Special colours in 1972 and ended in 1986 with the Lotus 98T.
Player's brands also sponsored the Forsythe Championship Racing team in Champ Car racing until tobacco advertising in automotive series was banned in 2004.
[edit] Today
Player's is still in existence, with a much reduced workforce (down to around 700 employees due to increased efficiency) but is no longer one of the Nottingham 'Big Three' employers (the other two being, Boots the Chemists and Raleigh Cycles).
Today, John Player Special and John Player King Size are manufactured by Imperial Tobacco, whereas John Player Gold Leaf is manufactured by British American Tobacco (in some countries), and ranks as one of the best selling and popular tobacco products in Pakistan.
Player's Cigarettes are available in the following varieties:
- Player's Filtered (Regular)
- Player's Medium
- Player's Light
- Player's Light Smooth
- Player's Extra Light
- Player's Silver
- John Player Specials (JPS)
- Richmond
- Richmond Superkings
- Richmond Menthols
